Begin To Hope
by samson67
Summary: She was used to a life of no restriction, no boundaries, no rules. This summer, she is thrust into a world that she has no respect for. But now Sirius' daughter begins to realise that finding her father, making friends, starting school and perhaps just falling in love with a certain red-headed twin, isn't as bad as she once thought.
1. Chapter 1

"Now stay still everyone, while I give us a bit of light in here,"

Ophelia's ears pricked up as she heard the dulcet tones of a gruff voice waft through the open door. She cocked her head, confused. The meeting would not be over yet; the only other explanation was that _he_ had arrived.

"No, there's a meeting on. You'll have to wait upstairs I'm afraid!"

The more friendly voice of Molly Weasley followed that of Mad-eye Moody. Ophelia rolled her eyes. Molly Weasley was by far the most molly-coddling woman she had ever had the misfortune to meet. At least she hadn't tried fussing on Ophelia yet. Ophelia smiled as she thought of her own imaginary reaction. Her daydream was interrupted by the sound of feet on stairs and a conversation she couldn't decipher. Ophelia shot up quickly, closing the door she was behind, save for a tiny gap, which she pressed her eye against. She caught a glimpse of a skinny, bespeckled, messy haired boy before he entered the room directly opposite her own, leaving the door open.

"Harry! You're here!"

Ophelia rolled her eyes again, listening to a high pitched voice ramble into what sounded like a well prepared monologue. The girl, who had spoken, Hermione Granger, had a tendency towards hysteria at times; Ophelia thought. She shook the thought from her head, as she concentrated on the conversation again. She wanted to focus on the newcomer. She wished she'd stolen some Extendable Ears from one of the Weasleys, an invention she found quite ingenious, not that she'd give them the satisfaction of knowing that.

"Well have _you_ been attacked by dementors?" A new voice sounded, which Ophelia deduced to be Harry Potter.

"No- Thats why the order was tailing you, Dumbledore said-"

"Yeah well I had to take care of myself didn't I?" He sounded as if he was trying hard not to shout out in anger. Ophelia laughed quietly to herself. If it had been her, she would have expressed her opinion as loud as humanly possible. Maybe even with a few jinxes added. But that was Ophelia. Rash. Reckless. Wild. And, she supposed, people did not usually hex their friends.

"Not that I'd know," She murmured quietly.

Ophelia heard shouting from the opposite room and smiled slightly. It looked like this kid decided to give into his anger after all. By the sounds of it, he had a bit of an ego problem.

Harry continued shouting. Not being interested in the ravings of an adolescent ego maniac, Ophelia grabbed the book she had previously been reading from her bed, and sat on the floor next to the door. She was engrossed, until she heard her own name spoken from the bedroom opposite hers.

"Have you seen Ophelia?" The voice sounded like one of the Weasley twins.

"No. She's probably in her room, like always. Why do you care, anyway?" A girl's voice, presumably Ginny Weasley, answered.

"Yeah, why do you care?" Ophelia thought to herself. All summer she had shown no interest in talking to the other teenagers of the house. Why would they want to know where she was?

"No reason." The twin shot back

"Who's Ophelia?" Asked the voice belonging to Harry Potter. "An Order member?"

There was a long pause

"No." said Ron Weasley awkwardly. "She's living here at headquarters..."

"Beating around the bush, ey?" Ophelia thought, smirking. She didn't suppose her father had told Harry about her existence.

"Yeah, but who is she?" Harry Potter asked again.

There was silence.

"Who is she?" Potter asked again.

"She's Sirius's kid Harry." Ginny said suddenly.

"What?" Potter said, confused. "Sirius doesn't have a kid! Who is she? Where did she come from? Why is she here?"

"How about one question at a time, Potter. And don't call me kid." Ophelia muttered. She did not take kindly to being patronised behind her own back.

"Well, it's kind of complicated. We don't really know the whole story. She's kind of quiet, you see. She doesn't really speak to anyone," Hermione tried to explain

"Arrogant, you mean!" Ron muttered. Ophelia raised her eyebrows.

"We've heard, the Order all thought she was dead. Even Sirius didn't know she was alive. The night that Sirius got arrested, Ophelia's mum went after him. But then, her mum got…well, she was there when Pettigrew escaped." Hermione was saying.

"Or you could say she got herself blown up." Ophelia thought.

"Well, the Order, the Ministry, and Sirius thought that Ophelia was with her mother, when…when it happened. Everyone thought she had died. But her Mum gave her aunt before she died, and her aunt well, she never told anyone Ophelia was alive. I don't' really know why."

"Because she was a paranoid old woman," Ophelia said to herself, smiling as she remembered her crazy aunt.

"And then, when she was twelve her aunt died, and apparently Ophelia just took care of herself. The Order found her because she was doing business with Mundungus Fletcher, and he let slip her name, and they found her and brought her here."

"To rot forever." Ophelia added under her breath. She cursed Dung for having such a large mouth. This old house was like a prison, and she didn't care for anyone in it, regardless if Sirius Black was her father. She'd lived her life since twelve years old not needing anyone to take care of her, and she didn't need some strangers trying to now. She slumped to the ground as she thought of the devastating fact that in September these people would be sending her to a boarding school. Ophelia couldn't remember ever being forced to stay in one place since her childhood, and the prospect of ten months stuck in a school, of all places, made her feel like a caged bird. If she could get out of it, she would.

The sound of Molly Weasley's footsteps on the stairs snapped her out of her reverie. She jumped on the bed and pretended to be engrossed in her book. She did not want the others to know she had listened to their conversation. She looked up innocently as Mrs Weasley opened her door.  
"The meeting's over now, Ophelia. You can come down now. If you want, of course." She said, before exiting quickly to give a much warmer announcement to the next room. Ophelia smirked. The way Mrs Weasley spoke to her, you'd think she was afraid. The side-effects of living with criminals, she thought as she stood up.

She exited the room quickly, before Harry and the others left theirs. A meeting in the hallway would be a cause for conversation, something Ophelia neither needed nor wanted.

Dinner was always awkward for Ophelia. For the first few nights, the other residents of the house tried to engage her in conversation, but she mostly ignored their fruitless attempts, or else gave only one word answers. After a while, most of the others gave up on trying to hold a steady conversation with her. The only person who still tried was Lupin, who Ophelia annoyingly rather liked.

Her father had not tried.

His attitude confused Ophelia. He seemed to not care about her; he had only spoken to her a couple of times since she had arrived, and that was mostly to reprimand her for using magic. Sirius did ask a couple of questions regarding her upbringing but after that, he seemed indifferent about her presence there.

Tonight, Ophelia knew that dinner would be especially uncomfortable. Harry Potter's arrival had put the house in a state of frenzy for the past couple of days. She had heard that he had done illegal magic in front of a muggle, and was going to attend a hearing at the Ministry of Magic. Part of Ophelia felt sorry for the kid. Rule number one in criminal activity: Never get caught. Ophelia had always stuck to mostly magical places when she moved around. Mixed in with all the wizards and witches of age, she had never been detected in under-age magic – which was the least of her worries in her line of work. This Potter had a thing or two to learn.  
Sirius had been especially agitated in the days before the boy's appearance. This, Ophelia thought, had been a major factor in his blissful ignorance of her, and she'd found herself resenting Harry Potter before she had even met him.

She walked sullenly into the kitchen, where Bill and Arthur Weasley were occupied over blueprints of some sort, Mundungus was asleep in a chair, and Sirius was talking with Lupin. They didn't notice her until she sat down next to Dung, and sighed loudly.

"Hello Ophelia" Lupin said, talking to her from across the table. "Why aren't you with the others?"

Sirius glanced at Ophelia before getting up and joining Bill and Arthur.  
Ophelia frowned slightly before answering. She realised that he meant the Weasley children, Hermione Granger and now, Harry Potter. She shrugged.

"You say that like I'm always with them," She replied dryly.

"Well, it would be nice for you to meet Harry,"

"Well, I'm _sure_ the others have told him everything they've guessed about me." She replied, raising an eyebrow at Remus knowingly.

Lupin was about to answer her when he was cut off by the sound of a woman raving. The portrait of her Grandmother had woken up again. The portrait had been hung up with a Permanent Sticking Charm, and no matter how Sirius tried, he could not remove it, and so Wallburga Black was free to screech her obejctions night and day. Ophelia had looked at the portrait once, and was ashamed to say it terrified her. The woman looked stark raving mad, and had slung a barrel of insults towards Ophelia, most of them mentioning her mother.

Sirius stood up abruptly, striding out of the room, closely followed by Lupin. Ophelia heard the sound of Sirius' shouts added to the ruckus.

Not really listening, Ophelia pulled her wand out of her pocket and started to make an empty goblet levitate for something to do. As she was making it do cartwheels down the table, the door opened and Sirius and Lupin returned, followed by Mrs Weasley, the twins, Ginny, Ron, Harry and Hermione.

"Ophelia," Sirius warned, when he found the source of the goblets gymnastic abilities.

Ophelia rolled her eyes before levitating the goblet as high as she could.

"Ophelia!" Sirius repeated. Now, most of the room glanced toward her

She stared at him before taking the charm off the goblet, allowing it to fall on the floor with a loud crash. Sirius glared at her before angrily sitting down on the other side to Mundungus.

Harry sat down next to him.

"Harry, this is Ophelia. She'll be starting Hogwarts with you this year." Sirius muttered, waving an arm in Ophelia's direction, but giving no further introduction.

"Hello," Harry Potter said, giving her a small smile.

Ophelia simply glanced up at him, and then back down to the table. Harry frowned.

"I'll need some help with dinner unless you want it at midnight!" Mrs Weasley proclaimed to the room.

Ophelia stood up, using this as an excuse out of a conversation with Harry. She heard Sirius talking about her to him as she walked toward the kitchen.

Mrs Weasley set her to stir the caldron over the fireplace. She could see Harry glancing up at her as he talked to Sirius. Evidently he was giving him an explanation. Mundungus, who had woken up, leaned in to join their discussion.

"I'm not that interesting..." Ophelia mused to herself as she stirred the stew. And she didn't think she was. In fact, being the daughter of an escaped convict was the most exciting thing about her, she thought.

Ophelia had never known her parents growing up. Until she was eleven, she had been raised by her aunt, quite a poor witch, who Ophelia thought was half mad.

Ophelia had never been allowed out of her sight, and because of her great aunt's paranoia, had been taught at home by her. Well, not really home, because Samantha and Ophelia Williams had lived in a room above the Leaky Caldron. Aunt Samantha had never answered Ophelia's questions about her father, and all she would say about her mother was that she had died in the war against Voldemort, and that her name was Sarah.

Ophelia had learnt not to ask questions about them from an early age, as it always resulted in an argument, and Ophelia hated arguing with her aunt. In fact, she had learnt more about her mother from the Order than she had from her aunt.

Ophelia couldn't remember much about the day Samantha died. It was almost as if she had blocked it out. She knew that she and her aunt had gone to a muggle store, and there had been a car, and then a muggle ambulance, and a hospital. She remembered running.

After her aunt's death, Tom, the landlord at the Leaky Caldron had been kind enough to let her stay in their room, in exchange for helping him out around the pub. It was an interesting place to work, as Ophelia had a knack for eavesdropping. She soon found out that the Leaky Caldron was a hotspot for petty thieves to drink away their earnings. She also found out that you can get almost any information out of a drunken criminal if you asked the right questions.

That was where she met Mundungus, and the two of them soon went into business together. Ophelia would find out about the goods, and Mundungus would "collect" them. Ophelia would then find a buyer and they would split the profits. Working with Mundungus soon gave her enough money to move out of her pub room and go into "business" full time. She had trusted Mundungus, as he was not a dark wizard, like so many others were. At least, she had trusted him until he had brought her to this prison.

"I think that's ready now, Ophelia." Mr Weasley said in her ear.  
Ophelia jumped as she was brought out of her daydream.

"Sure." she muttered, turning off the flames with a discrete flick of her wand. She went and sat down next to Lupin, far away from her father and Harry, as plates were passed down the table.

"And then the gormless gargoyle buys all 'is own toads back orf me for a lot more'n what 'e paid in the first place!" Mundungus roared with laughter, in a discussion with Fred and George.

Ophelia's ears pricked up. Was he talking about the toads stolen from Warty Harris? Anger flushed her face as she put down her fork and looked toward Mundungus.

"You told me those toads got lost!" She cried down the table, outraged at Mundungus' double cross.

Mundungus looked up, guilty and surprised.

"Well, err; you see, the fing is-"

Ophelia cut across him. "I arranged that deal! Give me my cut!"

"Listen, Phee, err, they didn't, erm-,"

"How much did you get?" Ophelia shouted angrily.

"I think that's quite enough!" Mrs Weasley said loudly. Ophelia looked round. She hadn't realised that the whole room was now staring at her curiously, or that she had risen from her chair in her outrage. She sat down moodily.

"We don't need to hear about your crooked dealings at the dinner table!" Mrs Weasley continued.

Ophelia stabbed her dinner with her fork. "He owes me money." she muttered.

"Enough, Ophelia." said Sirius, loudly from down the table. She glared at him.

"Those toads were worth a lot of money, actually. Forgive me if I'm a little tetchy!" she said through clenched teeth.

"It doesn't matter anymore," He replied, a little quieter, anger still evident in his voice. "You don't need to do that sort of thing anymore. I've got enough money for both of us."

Ophelia stared. Her father, actually seeming to care about her? Her shock was soon replaced by frustration though. Didn't he realise, she could take care of herself? That she wouldn't rely solely on him? That she couldn't? She stood up from the table and walked out of the kitchen. She didn't care if she was being rude. She didn't even notice she was followed.


	2. Chapter 2

Ophelia kicked the wall hard in her frustration. Why were they keeping her in this place? She hated it here!

"You'll break something, doing that" an amused voice said from behind her.

Ophelia whipped her wand out of her pocket, spun round swiftly and pointed it at the intruder's face. It was a reflex. She hated being spied upon. Her eyes widened slightly as she recognised the man as Lupin, but she masked her surprise quickly.

"I could heal it" She said stonily, before lowering her wand. The last thing she wanted was someone offering a shoulder to cry on, especially her father's best friend, and her godfather. She turned away from him and walked slowly toward her room. She rolled her eyes as she heard the footsteps on the stairs that meant that he wasn't giving up just yet.

"He's only trying to do what's best for you, you know" Lupin said, as she flopped onto her bed. Ophelia groaned.

"How does he know what's best for me? He doesn't even know me! None of you do!" Ophelia retorted, glaring at him.

"He's your father, Ophelia. Give him a chance to get to know you. You're a lot similar than you think." Lupin said, advancing towards her, putting a scarred hand on her shoulder.

"I haven't had a father all my life. I don't need one now." She said, shrugging his hand off. She didn't understand what was with this guy.

"Maybe you'd realise you do if you'd just give him a chance." Lupin stood up, his voice becoming sterner. "You can't do everything on your own Ophelia. You'll need a friend somewhere along the line and if you don't start opening up now, there'll be no-one there when you need them most"

"I don't NEED anybody!" Ophelia shouted, rising up and glaring at Lupin, her breath coming in short stabs. "Especially you!"

Lupin just shrugged and left the room. Ophelia kicked the wall again. Where did these people get off, trying to get her to 'open up', she wanted to be left alone, if she was being forced to stay here. Why wouldn't they let her leave? She couldn't take it, she couldn't live this way.

Ophelia screamed at the top of her voice, kicking her bed now. She grabbed her book off the bed and threw it across the room. Glancing at the desk it had sat upon, she pushed that over. She punched the wall, screaming slightly with each hit.

Then she stopped.

Breathing heavily, her mind raced. Everyone would still be downstairs, eating. She'd have enough time. She was practiced at this. She grabbed her wand and a jumper and left the room. Glancing around quickly, she tiptoed down the stairs, not making a sound. Her eyes on the kitchen door, she advanced towards the hallway. Still there was silence. She swiftly opened the front door and shot out of it, closing it behind her. Ophelia sighed briefly before walking away from the house.  
She drank in the fresh air. It felt so good to be out of Grimmauld Place, to be finally free. Checking there was no muggles around; she turned on the spot and dissapparated.

Remus Lupin yawned. It had been a long night, and he was looking forward to a night without guard duty for once.  
After the children had gone to bed, Molly scolded Sirius for telling Harry too much information about Voldemort's plans. Sirius, having defended himself, had stormed upstairs in a huff. Remus chuckled, the similarities between his friend and his daughter were great, yet neither wanted to acknowledge the fact. He wished that father and daughter would stop being stubborn and start to create a relationship, but the way things were going, that seemed out of the picture. Remus knew Sirius cared more than he was letting on, but he did not know why he was holding back, but he had an idea.

He remembered the day Ophelia was born. The love and adoration in Sirius' eyes as he held his daughter for the first time was a look Remus had never seen before on his friend's face. And likely, he would never see it again.

Just as Remus was thinking these thoughts, Sirius burst into the room.

"She's gone!" He shouted, looking around the sleepy inhabitants of the room in shock.

"Who?" Remus asked warily, even though he thought he already knew.

"Who do you think? Ophelia! I just went to check on her, and she is not in her room or in the house at all!" Sirius exclaimed angrily, slamming his fist at the table.

These words seemed to send a wakening jolt around the kitchen, Bill, Arthur, Tonks, Kingsley and Remus, the only people left, looked alert.

"We have to find her." Bill said.

"Okay, we need to make a plan." Remus said, standing up and taking control of the situation. "We'll split up. Kingsley and Tonks, you can search the neighbourhood. She might have just gone for a walk."

"In the middle of the night? Without telling anyone?" Sirius interrupted. "She's run away."

Remus ignored him. "Bill and Arthur, you go and see Mundungus. He's her friend; she might have gone to him. And I'll… I'll go to the Leaky Caldron and ask around. Someone might know her old haunts."

Everyone nodded, and they started to leave started to leave.

"What about-" Sirius began

"You need to stay here, Sirius. She might come back" Remus said. Sirius looked defeated, but nodded. Was Remus imagining it, or could he see worry in his old friend's eyes? "We'll find her"

And on saying that, Remus left Sirius standing in the kitchen alone.

Ophelia knocked back another firewhisky at the bar. The Leaky Caldron was busy for this time of night. From the sounds of it, a particularly rowdy group of people had just been successful in some type of long con. She ordered another drink.

Ophelia had been rash in leaving the house. When she had arrived in the pub she realised she hadn't bought any of her belongings with her, and she only had a couple of galleons in her pocket, not nearly enough for a room for the night, even in the places Ophelia knew.

When she realised she'd have to go back to Grimmauld Place sometime that night, embarrassed and with her tail between her legs, she had decided to start drinking. Returning to that house after leaving was not something she wanted to do. She gulped down her drink in one go.

Standing up shakily, Ophelia managed to wobble her way to the toilet. Hazily locking the door, she leant against the cool wall and giggled slightly as she caught a glimpse of her reflection. Her long dark hair was tangled and her slate grey eyes were puffy and a little wet. She dreaded going back. She closed her eyes for a moment, and shook herself out of it. "Get a grip" she told herself. On opening her eyes, she saw a pack of cards stacked on top of the sink. She smirked.

Ten minutes later, Ophelia had made fifteen galleons in 'Follow the Lady'. The punters were generous gamblers and they were too drunk to notice Ophelia's unsteady sleight of hand, as she had drunk as much as any of them.

"Who's next? C'mon mate, see if yer can win yer stake back, and if you find the Lady, I'll buy yer a drink!" Ophelia shouted, using her street voice, to a podgy man sulking after his loss. He placed three galleons on the table, and watched with blurry eyes as Ophelia quickly shuffled the cards and set them out. He did not pick the Queen, as was expected, and Ophelia laughed heartily as he stormed off in a rage.

After a while the punters got bored of losing their money, and Ophelia decided to leave. She could afford to stay somewhere now, and was pre-occupied on deciding where. She didn't see the man who had lost twice get up and follow her, accompanied by two cronies.

Staggering her way down the deserted Diagon Alley, Ophelia didn't hear the footsteps behind her.

"Oi, girly!" a rough voice shouted.

Ophelia turned round, seeing the man who'd lost all his money to her. He approached her, snarling, "Give me back my money, you little thief"

"Hey mate, you bet it, you lost it. S'not my fault you don't know when to stop gambling" Ophelia cheekily replied, turning around to carry on walking. She was stopped however, when she saw two brutish men in front of her.

"Scuse me, you're kind of in my way" Ophelia said, raising her eyebrows, trying to push past quickly. Quick as a flash, two strong arms were grabbed on to her, she struggled against the grasp, but it was like a vice. She numbly panicked as she realised her wand was in her back pocket.

The gambling man pointed his own wand at her.

"Give me my money back" He repeated.

"It's in my pocket… I can't reach it with this nutter holding me can I?" Ophelia sneered. She drunkenly worried how she was going to get out of this.

"Well, I'll just have to get it myself" The main said greasily, leering at her, stubby claws outstretched.

"Or you could let her go and leave her alone!" said a new voice from behind Ophelia. A stunner suddenly hit the little man, and she was promptly dropped by her captor, who with his friend had advanced toward the stranger. Ophelia hit the floor and saw the two brutes get hit by two more stunners.

"Ouchh!" Ophelia shouted.

"You don't need anyone, do you?" Remus Lupin said, offering Ophelia a hand. She ignored it and pushed herself up.

"I could of fought them off! Like they were itsy bitsy bugs! I just had my wand in my pocket!" Ophelia slurred.

"You're drunk" Lupin stated simply.

"So?"

"Come on, let's go home. Sirius is worried sick about you" Lupin sighed, starting to walk down the street.

Ophelia followed, scoffing. "As if. He hates me. You all do"

"I don't hate you. I don't think any of the others hate you. Sirius certainly doesn't hate you. You just haven't given us a chance" Lupin replied.

"Well, you keep me locked in that house day in day out! You never let me do magic, I've had to give up my whole life to go to a bloody…. school, you treat me like a child when I can look after myself simply perfectly!" Ophelia ranted, glaring at Lupin

"After tonight's events I don't think you can. Just give it a chance Ophelia. Why don't you try out living like a regular teenager?"

"Because I'm not a regular teenager?"

"Now that I believe. Now hold on to my arm. In your state I don't think you could apparate if you tried."

"Yes I coul-" Ophelia started turning on the spot

"Don't try though!" Lupin said, grabbing her arm and with a loud CRACK he apparated her to the doorstep of Grimmauld Place.

He managed to get her inside quickly, and ushered her into the kitchen. Sirius jumped up at the sound of the door opening.

"I've found her. She was in Diagon Alley. I'll send messages to everyone else, if you take her to bed." Lupin said to a bewildered Sirius. "She's been drinking" He added at the look on Sirius' face.

Sirius sighed loudly. "Come on Ophelia." He said, taking her arm and leading her out of the kitchen.

"It's Phee, really Or Lia. No one calls me Ophelia much" She said, conversationally through the hall.

"Right"

They walked in silence up to her room, when Ophelia flopped on to her bed with her shoes still on. Sirius sighed again. He untied her laces and took off her trainers, placing them on the floor. "Why did you run off like that? We've had half the Order looking for you!" Sirius asked her whilst he was doing this.

"Why aren't I allowed to leave? I go where I want, when I want." Ophelia replied, looking at the ceiling.

"Maybe you'll calm down more when you get to Hogwarts. Settle down" Sirius mused, sitting on her bed.

"I never settle."

"That's what I used to think. It's going to happen one day, whether you like it or not. Hogwarts is a good place to be." Sirius said, looking at Lia, who was fast asleep. He pulled the covers over her and moved the hair out of her face.

"I'm such a shit dad." He whispered. "Last time I was tucking you in like this you were a two year old. All that time in Azkaban, and when I wasn't thinking of revenge, I was thinking about was how I wished I had more time with you. Thinking I'd lost you all that time and now…" Sirius sighed. "I expected my sweet little two year old back. Not this stubborn, grown up teenager." He ran his hands through his hair. "It's hard. Maybe we can both try harder with each other." He stood up.

"Goodnight Lia" He said.

And he stood up and tiptoed out of the room.

Ophelia opened her eyes. She had heard her father's proposition. And it terrified her.


	3. Chapter 3

Over the next few days, Ophelia and Sirius' relationship improved somewhat. They hadn't become like friends, yet, but they were on civil terms with each other.

Since running away, Ophelia had started to talk to the other teenagers more. They weren't friends either, as such, nor did Ophelia think of them as that. She mostly just sat with them, or helped them clean the house, listening to their conversations.

Most of the time, Ophelia thought their topics a little immature, and more often than not, she found herself voicing her sarcastic thoughts by accident. Harry and the others didn't mind though, they tended to laugh at Ophelia's opinionated stance, rather than take offence.

Today, they were helping Mrs Weasley de-doxy the curtains in the drawing room. Ophelia made her way up there after a quick breakfast, accompanied by Fred and George, who were discussing ingredients for their joke shop products.

"What about the venom?" George asked

"What venom?" Ophelia thought

"Yeah, it's a possibility. Is it harmful though?" Fred replied

"I don't know. The real question is how?"

"Yeah, especially with mum there. Maybe we can slip some in our pockets or something?"

"Yeah maybe"

"Seriously, can you two read each other's thoughts or something?" Ophelia asked, dumbfounded by their conversation.

"No…" they replied in unison, looking at her weirdly. "Why?"

"Oh, never mind" She said, shaking her head and walking into the drawing room, but stopping as she saw Ginny, Hermione and Mrs Weasley wearing the most hideous scarves around their noses and mouths.

"Didn't you guys hear? The sixties are over." Ophelia said.

"You need to cover yourself from the fumes of the spray" Mrs Weasley said, pointing towards the pile of scarves.

Ophelia snorted. "Believe me, if I wanted to get high, I wouldn't do it with a can of Doxyide". But she reached for one of the ugly scarves nevertheless.

Fred, George, Harry and Ron joined them, and they spent the morning de-doxying the curtains. Mrs Weasley had just sunk into an armchair when the doorbell rang.

"Stay here" Mrs Weasley said, firmly closing the door behind her as she went to answer the door.

Everyone immediately ran to the window to see who it was, apart from Ophelia, who was not overly bothered.

"What's Dung got all of those caldrons for?" Hermione asked. Ophelia shot up and looked out the window. There indeed, was the gingery-headed man, with about twenty stolen caldrons by his feet. Clever man, those looked like they would go ten galleons a piece.

"Looking for a place to keep them? Mum won't like that at all" Fred said with a smirk. "Shall we get the extendable ears?"

But then an unearthly sound echoed from downstairs, "WE'RE NOT KEEPING A HIDEOUT FOR STOLEN GOODS!" Mrs Weasley yelled.

"Doesn't she know how much they'll sell for?" Ophelia asked, shocked. No-one answered her

"YOU ARE NOT BRINGING THEM HERE MUNDUNGUS!"

"Man, I'm going down there. If she just lets him keep them for the night, I can find a buyer" Ophelia said, leaving the room.

She ran down the stairs, determined to stop Mrs Weasley from kicking Mundungus and his caldrons out. She bounded through the hall, waking up the portrait of her grandmother in the process. She came up to the doorway, where Dung and Mrs Weasley were stood with Sirius and Kingsley, who were doing their best to quieten the argument.

"Mrs Weasley you have to let him keep them here! Just for one night?" She called, interrupting her mid-flow.

"We're not bringing stolen caldrons into this house, thank you very much!" The older woman answered her. "And I told you all to stay upstairs!"  
Ophelia raised her eyebrows. This woman really, really, got on her nerves. "And what makes you think you can tell me what to do? You're not _my_ mother, and this isn't _your_ house." She said, loathing the woman.

"You are still a child, Ophelia; you shouldn't be such a criminal!"

"Well, I've survived this long being a criminal! That's all you see when you look at me isn't it! Some sneak thief? Well why shouldn't I live up to my expectations?"

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" Sirius shouted, as Mrs Weasley opened her mouth to retaliate.

"Molly, stop trying to discipline my daughter okay? I think I can handle it myself. And Ophelia, knock it off. I've told you this before, you don't need to steal anymore, can't you see that?" Sirius asked her, looking at her with sad eyes.

"But Sirius, don't you know how much those caldrons are worth?" Ophelia said imploringly.

"No. And I don't care either. And neither should you. I've got more than enough money for both of us"

"How can you tell me what to do? Where have you been all my life then, _Dad_?"

Sirius paled. "I'm not trying to say I've been father of the year, I just want to be a good Dad now I've got the chance. What kind of father lets his daughter traffic stolen goods?"

"The kind of father that walks out on said daughter to go kill a man?" Ophelia retorted.

The hallway silenced. Lia could hear Molly gasp. But she was glaring at Sirius, who was looking back at her with an equally angry stare. He stomped into a room.

Ophelia stayed silent. She knew she'd gone too far. It wasn't that she wanted to keep up the life of a criminal. Deep, deep down, she knew the things she did were wrong. But she couldn't help it. She'd chosen her lifestyle, five years ago – a lifestyle she had to choose to survive. She'd become accustomed to grifting her way through life, and she just didn't think she could change. She sighed heavily and made her way back to the drawing room.

Upon entering, the rest of the teenagers quickly jumped away from the door, as if they had been eavesdropping, except Harry, who was examining a tapestry in the corner of the room.

Ophelia made her way over to him, not wanting to answer the other's questioning gazes.

"What's that?" She asked him. He jumped. Ophelia smirked.

"The black family tree" He answered, finally taking his eyes off it. "I'm trying to find you and Sirius"

"You won't have much luck with that" Sirius' voice sounded from behind them both. "My dear old mother blasted me off it when I ran away from home. I used to be right there" He pointed to a black, charred circle on the tree.  
"You ran away?" Harry asked. "Why?"

"Don't you know what kind of wizards this family was?" He replied, not looking at Ophelia.

"Death Eaters?" said Harry

"That was just my little brother. My parents thought Voldemort had the right ideas though. I hated them, with their pureblood mania." Sirius spoke with bitterness in his voice.

"But where did you go?" Harry asked.

"Your Dad's place, of course! Yeah, the Potters loved me; they kind of took me in as a second son. And then when I left Hogwarts, I got a place of my own. My uncle Alphard left me a bit of money when he died, that's probably why he's not on here either."

Ophelia didn't know what to say. Sure, she had realised by the state of the house that her ancestors weren't squeaky-clean, but she'd never realised just how much her father hated them. Grimmauld Place must bring back bad memories for him. Maybe she wasn't the only one who felt trapped in this house.

Trying to push back these feelings, she examined the tree. "Boy did dear Grandmother hate a lot of her family" she said to herself, noting the numerous burns on the tapestry.

Sirius pointed to one of them. "That used to be Tonk's mum right there. Andromeda. She was my favourite cousin, but married a muggle-born so..." He trailed off, and Lia pictured Walburga Black blasting the name with her wand.

"I didn't know we were related to Tonks..." Ophelia trailed off, looking at Sirius.

"I'm not the only white sheep of the Black family" Sirius said laughing to himself slightly at the pun. "Andromeda got disowned by her family, of course. Her own sister swore to kill her." Sirius pointed again to the tree.

"Bellatrix. She's in Azkaban now."

Lia remained silent.

Ophelia peered through the gap in the Library door. There was Sirius, sitting in an old armchair, reading the Daily Prophet. It should be easy, Ophelia thought, for a daughter to go in and start a conversation with her father. But why wouldn't her feet let her go any further?

"He won't mind, you know, if you go talk to him" A voice whispered from near her ear.

Ophelia pointed her wand at the intruder's chest, just by pure instinct. She saw Remus Lupin stood calmly before her.

"Do you ever tire of sneaking up on me?" She replied in a low whisper, putting her wand in her pocket.

"Well? Are you going in or what?" He ignored her question, and gestured toward the door.

"I don't know" She said, peering through the gap again. "You know, I never like to be disturbed when I'm reading, so I'm just going to go" She turned around, and ran down the hall, right past Remus. She felt embarrassed, being surprised like that, when trying to sort her own feelings out. She burst into the empty drawing room, and flopped onto the couch. She heard Remus knock on the door before entering

"What's the real reason?" He asked her, sitting opposite on an armchair.

"The real reason for what?" She replied

"Never wanting to talk to Sirius"

"You know, you should be a therapist. They're good at asking stupid questions."

"You should stop trying to change the subject"

"What subject? There's nothing to discuss, okay!"

Remus just looked at her, eyebrows raised. "I won't tell anyone, if that's what you're worried about."

Ophelia looked at him with scrutinising eyes. This guy seriously needed to back off if he knew what was good for him. Ophelia opened her mouth to tell him as such.

"I think I pretty much said it all this morning. What sort of father walks out on his family? Did he really care about Harry's parents so much more than me? Why was avenging them more important than his own daughter? Even if Pettigrew hadn't blown up the street Sirius would have killed him and gone to Azkaban anyway. He knew when he left that night he was leaving us forever." She stopped. Had she really said all that? She meant to insult Remus, not to open up to him!

Remus paled. "Believe me Ophelia. Sirius regrets leaving you that night more than anything"

Ophelia rolled her eyes.

"Anything." He repeated. "Go on, go and ask him about Hogwarts. Forget the past and get to know him now." And with that, Remus practically pushed Ophelia out the door and toward the Library, before whispering, "And Sirius will never, ever, leave again like he did"

Ophelia rolled her eyes, and walked into the Library. Sirius looked quite surprised to see her.

"Hey Lia" He said uncertainly, which somehow gave Ophelia confidence.

"So Lupin's forcing me to talk to you about Hogwarts…"

It was a Saturday morning, the day of Harry's trial. Ophelia woke up suddenly, as if an alarm had gone off in her ears. After realising she'd never be able to get back to sleep, she got up, grumbling and made her way to the kitchen.  
She was surprised to see Tonks, Lupin, Mr and Mrs Weasley and Sirius there.

"Is this the house that never sleeps or something? Don't you guys know what time it is?" She said.

"Five fifteen am" said a gloomy Sirius, who managed a smile in Ophelia's direction.

"Whatever. I'm making breakfast." She said, walking towards the stove.

A few minutes later, Ophelia had managed to make bacon, eggs and toast for the group all by herself, well, with a little magical help of course. She was surprised to find that she was enjoying herself cooking.

She was just finishing off her delicious eggs when Harry walked through the door, looking surprised to see them all there. He looked like he was awaiting a death sentence, Ophelia thought.

"Want some brekkie Harry?" She asked him, thinking a meal would make him feel better.

"Just – just some toast, thanks" He stuttered out, sounding surprised it was Phee that offered.  
Ophelia expertly cooked the toast, again feeling quite proud of herself as she placed it in front of Harry, who Mrs Weasley was fussing over.

"Thanks"

"It's alright!" She replied, rolling her eyes at Mrs Weasley to him. He smiled weakly.

"Don't worry Harry, in a few hours time you will be cleared" Mr Weasley said, looking towards the boy. "Amelia Bones is questioning you; it'll be in her office"

"Chill out about it, there's always loopholes in these kinds of laws" Ophelia offered, trying to cheer him up.

"Just don't lose your temper" Sirius said abruptly

"I think we'd best leave now, Harry. No use just hanging around here, I think" Mr Weasley said.

"OK" Said Harry, standing up, looking happy to leave. "Well…See you later then"

"Good luck!" Ophelia called as he left.

Mrs Weasley busied herself with clearing the breakfast pots, and Ophelia went to talk to Sirius, as Tonks and Remus looked busy discussing Order business, or something.

"Lets look busy, or Mrs Weasley will give me a job to do" She said awkwardly, trying to improve her father's spirits.

He chuckled. Ophelia brightened; maybe she wasn't as bad at this as she thought.

"So, do you think Tonks and Lupin are getting it on?" She said, gesturing to the two deep in discussion.

Sirius laughed even more. "Remus is the biggest prude I've ever met. Of course not!"

"Oh, I don't know. He's got all the body language going on"

"Maybe he's a secret Casanova" Sirius chuckled

"Maybe he's getting it on with Mrs Weasley too, look at the way she keeps looking at the both of them"

Sirius couldn't take any more; he burst out in his bark like laugh, making the kitchen look round at him.

"What are you two laughing at?" Remus asked.

"Nothing…nothing" Ophelia said, smirking.

After loitering around the kitchen for an hour or so, Ophelia decided to go and read in the Library. Grabbing her book out of her bedroom, she climbed the stairs, immersed in reading the defensive spells the book offered. So immersed, in fact, she didn't see the red-headed George Weasley bounding down the stairs she ascended.

WHACK! George ran straight into Ophelia, not stopping in time. They both skidded and rolled down the stairs, and landed on the thankfully carpeted floor together.

"Ouch" Ophelia said, opening her eyes, to see Georges green ones staring straight back at her. He'd landed right on top of her, an uncomfortable and embarrassingly close position.

"Sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going" He said, not moving, but keeping his gaze locked with hers.  
"No, it was me, I wasn't…" Ophelia trailed off, unable to keep her dark eyes off his bright green ones.

Suddenly, realising their position, Ophelia whispered, "Erm, do you mind like, standing up?"

George snapped out of his gaze. "Oh, Merlin, yeah of course!" He stood up, and offered a hand to Ophelia, who pushed it out of the way and stood up on her own. She tried to step left past George, who did the same. Then, they both stepped right. Ophelia, embarrassed and freaked out beyond belief, stood out of the way, and let him past. George left in a rush, and Ophelia started the stairs again.

"Man that was weird"

Ophelia spent most of the morning reading books in the Library with Remus, who was pursuing the daily prophet. It wasn't usually her thing, but the ancient Blacks seemed to have an interest in obscure, forgotten magic; not excluding Dark magic, but Lia didn't read those books. The Old Magic interested her, but it was mostly legend and myth, often referencing back to medieval times. Lia supposed the spells described were just fiction, and completely useless. Still, it was fun reading about them.

"Anemoi ventus" She read, looking up a spell to create a small cyclone directed at your enemies. What was curious was the description didn't mention wands at all.

Lupin looked up at the sound of her voice "What are you reading?"

Lia looked up; she'd forgotten he was there. She held up the tattered, dusty book from her hands. "This book on Old Magic. It's quite interesting, actually."

Remus frowned "Old Magic? You're not thinking of experimenting, I hope?"

Lia laughed. "I wish! It's all a bunch of crap-"

"Language!" Remus interrupted.

"Oh, get a grip," she replied. "What I mean is that it's not real magic. It's just a bunch of made up rubbish, isn't it?"

Remus didn't say anything, but looked back to his paper

"Isn't it?" Lia repeated. Remus still stayed silent, but Ophelia couldn't mistake the uncomfortable look of someone keeping a secret on his face.

"No way! You could actually do all this shit?" She asked him, excited.

Remus looked even more uncomfortable, but resigned himself to answer.  
"Well… it's not impossible." He replied, slowly.

"So why doesn't anyone use it?" Lia asked, looking at the pages of the book.

"Wizards who've tried in the past couldn't control the power" Remus replied again, looking at his paper in hopes of dropping the subject

"What happened to them?" Lia persisted.

Remus sighed. "They died"

Ophelia sighed. "But the stuff in here, it's insane, it's…amazing," she said, staring at the pages in the book with a kind of awe.

"Don't even think about it Lia."

She shrugged. "I'm not going to practice it… I just like reading about it"

Remus frowned. "Maybe we should clear out this library next," he muttered to himself, though Ophelia heard.

Ginny suddenly burst in through the open door.

"Harry's back! Free of all charges!" She shouted, looking between the startled pair.

"That's wonderful!" Remus exclaimed, folding up his newspaper and standing up.

"Aren't you going to come congratulate him?" He asked Ophelia, who hadn't moved.  
She nodded, and stood up slowly to put the book back on the shelf. While Remus had his back turned, however, she snuck it up her jumper, hiding the shape by folding her arms.

"I'm just going to change, this jumper's itching me," she said as the three of them walked out the door.

"Okay. We'll be in the kitchen" Remus said. He and Ginny carried on downstairs while Lia went to her room.

Closing the door, she pulled the book out, and placed it on the floor. Kneeling down, she felt for the floorboard she knew was coming loose. Wriggling it out of its place, she lifted the board up and slid the book into the small space beneath.

When she got downstairs, she found everyone in the room congratulating Harry. The twins and Ginny were doing some sort of war dance to an annoying chant that went: "HE GOT OFF, HE GOT OFF!"

She shook her head slightly and sat down at the table.  
"Congrats," she said to Harry, who sat opposite her, with a grin on his face. "So what was it like?"

"HE GOT OFF, HE GOT OFF"

"Absolutely terrifying. It wasn't just Amelia Bones, it was the whole Wizengamot" He replied, a little louder. He looked up at Ophelia. "Have you… Did you ever-"

"HE GOT OFF!"

"Have a trial?" She offered, talking louder still and raising her eyebrows. "No chance, I'm to clever to get caught, unlike someone I know"  
Harry laughed.

"HE GOT OFF, HE GOT OFF, HE GOT-"

"Seriously you three, shut the hell up!" Lia yelled.

Only her father did not seem overjoyed by Harry's good news. Lia noticed him become increasingly more distant to everyone over the next few days. She'd often wake up to the noise of him climbing the stairs past her bedroom to Buckbeak the hippogriff's lair, only coming back down for dinner in the evening.

It was one of these mornings when Ophelia received her first Hogwarts letter. She'd just been woken up by footsteps stomping the stairs, and had half a mind to have a go at Sirius for constantly waking her up. She got up out of bed and threw some cropped jeans and a jumper on. She was just attempting to brush the tangles out of her messy long hair when she saw the owl from the corner of her eye. She jumped.

"Merlin's beard!" She exclaimed. She walked over to the open window and untied the letter from the owl's outstretched leg.

Unfurling the rusty coloured envelope, she saw a crest in the middle of it; a lion, eagle, badger and snake all assembled around the letter "H".

"Hogwarts" She muttered under her breath, ripping open the envelope.

_Dear Miss Black_

Due to your special circumstances, we have allowed you to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry for your OWL and NEWT qualifications. Please remember that this is a one-off allowance, so please use your time at school accordingly. You will be joining the fifth-years in your first year, studying for your OWLs. After this you will be taking NEWT courses for the remaining two years.

Due to your father's current situation, I think it would be best that you keep to your mother's maiden name, Williams, to avoid suspicion and trouble at Hogwarts. You will be sorted along with the first years on the first of September.

Enclosed is a book and equipment list.

Yours sincerely

Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster 

"Blah blah blah" Ophelia said to herself, keeping the book list but scrunching the letter into a ball and throwing it over her shoulder. She left her room and walked into Harry and Ron's room, where they were opening their own letters.

"Oh, hi Lia," Harry said.

"So how do I get sorted?" She asked, with no pre-amble, sitting herself on Ron's bed.

"What?" They both asked, confused.

Ophelia rolled her eyes.

"My letter said I'd be sorted when we get to school. I know about houses, just not how they choose them." She replied, laying down and creating bubbles out of the tip of her wand.

"Oh, you just have to put on the sorting hat!" Ron replied.

"Sorting hat?" Lia snorted. "I didn't know I was joining a cult as well as a school."

Harry chuckled and Ron scrunched up his empty envelope and threw it at Lia.

"Oi!" She exclaimed when it hit her in the face. "That hurt!"

"It's only paper!" Ron defended.

"No, there was something hard in there," Lia said, grabbing the envelope and unfolding it. She tipped out a small gold and red badge. "Here, see! You threw a damn badge at me!"

"Badge?" Ron asked, reaching over and taking it from Lia's hand. He studied it before opening his mouth and just gaping at it.

"Yes, that's a badge Ron, bout the same size as a button with a pin at the back?" Ophelia sarcastically commented after several moments passed.

"Pr…Prefect?" He said, wide eyed.

Several things then happened at once. Harry, who'd not been listening to Ron and Lia's conversation, looked round; two loud 'CRACK' noises resounded, and Fred and George apparated either side of Ophelia, who had thrown the empty envelope back at Ron, who didn't seem to notice.

"What's that Ron?" George asked, taking the badge from Ron. He leant past Ophelia to do so, and she moved back awkwardly. The memory of the other day's weird stair incident was still fresh in her mind.

"Prefect?" George asked, looking at the badge disgusted.

"Ron got Prefect?" Fred replied, taking it from George. "No way!"  
George picked up Ron's Hogwarts letter.

"It says so here. Merlin, Dumbledore must be off his rocker," He said

"Yeah, who'd make Ron a prefect?" Fred laughed

Both twins looked at Harry. "We both thought it'd be you," they said in unison. "Winning the Triwizard, and fighting Quirrel and everything" Fred continued.

"But maybe they took points away for all the mad stuff" George offered.

"Yeah, well at least one of you has got their priorities right" Fred said, getting up and shaking a bewildered Harry's hand while George clapped him on the back.

Harry still didn't say anything, and Lia thought he seemed a little shocked too. Ron offered Harry the badge to look at, and he took it, with a hint of jealousy

"I'm sorry but what the hell is a 'prefect' when it's at home?" Ophelia asked the room at large.  
Fred and George opened their mouths, but were beaten to it by another person.

"They basically enforce rules, and help out students when needed" Hermione's voice sounded from the door. She was staring at the badge in Harry's hand. "Harry – you got it? Me too, look!"

"Enforcing rules?" Lia scoffed. "Who'd want that?"

"No… Ron's prefect. Not me" Harry muttered to Hermione, ignoring Ophelia's comment and giving the badge back to Ron.

"Ron? Are you sure?" Hermione asked.

"Yeah," Harry replied  
Hermione turned beetroot red as she looked at Ron, who looked a little peeved at her reaction to the news.

"It's my name on the letter." He said stonily.

"Well… that's, that's great!" She stuttered, trying to rectify her mistake. "Come on, why don't we go downstairs, I'm sure your Mum will want to know!"

She grabbed his arm as he mumbled something inaudible, and dragged him out the door and downstairs.

"Utterly disgusting. Another prefect in the family!" Fred said, shaking his head.

"Our reputation will be ruined." George added, pretending to cry.  
Both twins put their arms round each other and dissaparated with a "CRACK!"

This left Ophelia and Harry sitting awkwardly in the room together. He still looked upset. Ophelia thought it was because he didn't get prefect, which baffled her.

"You know, prefect doesn't sound that good. I'd rather be breaking the rules, then getting people to follow them," She said awkwardly.

Harry smiled "Yeah, I suppose so."

"And with those two on the side of the law, we can get away with a lot more!" She concluded, standing up. "It's always good to have an inside man."  
She offered a hand to Harry, to help him stand.

"C'mon I'm friggin' starving. Lets go get fed."

Mrs Weasley was so overjoyed at the fact Ron was a Prefect; she couldn't stop talking about it. Unfortunately for Lia, she had to endure three hours in Diagon Alley shopping for school supplies with her.

"I just can't believe it, that's everyone in the family so far! Well except for Fred and George, but they've always been trouble makers"

Ophelia rolled her eyes as she and Mrs Weasley made their way towards Madam Malkins. Mrs Weasley opened the door and she and Lia entered.

"I mean, prefect can only lead to greater things, can't it?" Mrs Weasley said.  
Ophelia ignored her.

A tall witch came out the back room, carrying pins in her hand.  
"Hello dearies! How can I help?"

"Dearies?-" Ophelia started to say, but Mrs Weasley cut across her.

"Hello there! This is Ophelia Williams. She needs new robes for Hogwarts. She's starting this year" She said, smiling at the assistant.

"Alright then. Do you want to come through to the back love, I'm with another customer but I'll only be a couple of minutes." The witch replied, making her way back through the door.  
Ophelia rolled her eyes and followed her out of the main shop.

"I'll go and get your books and equipment then, Ophelia!" Mrs Weasley called to her as she left.

Lia walked through the door and saw a blonde boy stood on a stool in the centre of the room, being measured for robes. The shop assistant was looking for the right size through the stacks of cloth at the side of the room.

"So, starting this year then? Are you a transfer student?" The witch asked, glancing towards Lia. The boy looked at her too, interested.

"No" Lia said simply.

"Home Schooled?"

"No"

The boy on the stood laughed quietly. The shop assistant seemed to sense she was being rebuked, and stopped her questioning.

"You can get down now, Mr Malfoy. I'll just be right back with your new robes" She said to the boy, before leaving the room. Ophelia thought she recognised the name, but she couldn't place it.

"So you'll be new to Hogwarts then?" The boy called Malfoy asked her, stepping off the stool.

"Well obviously" Lia replied shortly, looking at the boy curiously.

The boy chuckled again. "What year will you be in?"

"Fifth. Though I should be in Sixth. I need to take OWLs" Lia didn't know why she added that. Maybe it was because the boy intrigued her a little, where did she know the name from?

"I'll be a fifth year too. So do you know what house you'll be in?" He replied.

"No idea" Lia replied, getting sick of the questioning.

"I'm in Slytherin. Draco Malfoy" He said, extending a hand to her. Ophelia realised where she recognised the name from. The black family tree. So this was her second cousin. Wierd. "You know, you look familiar, what's your name?"

Ophelia took it. "Ophelia...Williams" She said, not returning his smile.

"Mr Malfoy, here's your robes" The shop assistant had come back in, extending a paper bag to Draco.

"See you at Hogwarts, I bet you'll be a Slytherin." He said to Lia, leaving the room.

The shop assistant stayed silent all through Ophelia's fitting, sensing the girl wasn't in the mood for idle chatter. Lia, on the other hand, pondered Draco Malfoy's last statement. Would she really be a Slytherin? Sirius had told her she'd be in Gryffindor, like him. Of course, Lia didn't really care where she was placed, but it would be nice to be in the same house as her parents. But, all the Blacks apart from Sirius had been in Slytherin.

"And with my past record, I don't have the best reputation" She thought.  
Ophelia paid for her robes and left the shop. She had no idea where Mrs Weasley would be. Ophelia smirked. All thoughts of Gryffindor and Slytherin fell from her head. This was her chance to get some things she needed that defiantly weren't on the book list.

That night, there was a party for Ron and Hermione becoming prefects. Mrs Weasley had hung a banner up across the kitchen, and put on a spread of food. Ophelia entered the kitchen, surprised by all of this.

"Hello Lia" Sirius said to her, handing her a butterbeer.

"Hey. Isn't there anything here stronger than this?" She asked, gesturing to the drink.

"Not for you." He replied, drinking his own mead.  
Ophelia sighed, putting the bottle to her lips.  
Sirius and Lia were joined by Mad-Eye-Moody. Ophelia wasn't fond of the old Auror. He was extremely paranoid, and she got the feeling that he didn't like her that much either.

"Prefects ey!" He said, eyeing Lia. "I suppose you'll never get the honor, being new, and coming from your side of the tracks and all."

Ophelia just rolled her eyes and walked away. She spotted Fred, George, Harry and Dung in the corner, and wandered over

"Ten galleons the lot, if you'll take them quickly," Dung muttered, and Ophelia saw gold changing hands.

"Tsk Tsk, buying illegal goods and no-one invited me? I'm shocked." She said, grinning.

"Shut up, Lia!" Fred hissed, looking around in alarm, as Dung sliped away,

Ophelia looked at him. "Nah, don't think I will," she said. "What are you buying?"

"Tentacular Seeds" George said, smiling at Lia, which she tried hard not to return.

"I could of got you them for about seven galleons," Lia replied, smirking. Both twins looked at her in shock.

"What, now you tell us!" Fred exclaimed, looking annoyed. Lia laughed.

"Oh just-" Fred began.

"Have fun in Diagon Alley, Ophelia?" George interjected, seeing Fred's annoyed face.

"No," she replied. "Your Mum was doing my head in."

Fred, George and Harry laughed.

"How are the snackboxes coming along?" Harry asked the twins.

"Great thanks! We needed these seeds for the fainting fancies," George said. "C'mon Fred, we should probably get these upstairs."

"Right. See you later guys" Fred said to Harry and Lia.

"See you Ophelia." George said to Lia as he left, his hand brushing against hers. She tried her hardest to ignore the butterflies in her stomach as his fingers passed hers.

Harry, looking slightly guilty, slunk off to talk to Moody. Ophelia didn't want to be around the old auror, so went to talk to her father again.

"Hey" She said, poking him in the arm.

"Enjoying yourself?" Sirius asked her.

"No, not really," She said, honestly. "Sirius, I need to ask you something."

"Fire away." He replied, taking a swig of mead.

"I know you said I'd be a Gryffindor… but, what…what if I'm a Slytherin?" she muttered quietly.

"You won't be a Slytherin Lia. You're too good for that," was Sirius' answer.

"Yes, but Sirius, what if I am?" She persisted.

"What's brought this on hun?" Sirius asked her. Ophelia was alarmed slightly by the use of the word "hun", but didn't comment.

"It's just, this boy in the robe shop today. He said I'd be a Slytherin. And, like all the Blacks have been, apart from you, and I've done some pretty bad stuff in my time," she said. "What will you do if the hat puts me in Slytherin? Everyone says that's the Dark house."

"Ophelia." Sirius said. "Look at me."

Ophelia looked up into her father's face, into the eyes that looked like hers.  
"You're not a bad person, you're not going to be in that house." He said, seriously.

Ophelia smiled.

"Thanks."

At that moment, Mad-eye walked over, carrying a photograph.

"What's that, Mad-Eye?" Sirius asked, gesturing to it.

"The original Order of the Pheonix." He replied, handing the picture to him. Sirius looked at it.

"Wow, I'd forgotton how many people there used to be." He looked over at Lia. "Come here"  
She walked over, slightly curious.

"Look. That's me" Sirius said, pointing to a corner of the photograph.  
Ophelia looked to where he was pointing.

There was Sirius, looking younger than she had ever seen him. His hair was shorter, and he also looked happier than ever. Next to him were a younger Remus, and a man who could only be Harry's father. James Potter, her father's old best friend. The man who's death lead to her mother's. And there was Pettigrew. The wizard who'd done the deed.

Ophelia blinked back tears. She half wished she'd never seen the photograph.

"Are you okay Lia?" Sirius asked her.

"Yeah… I'm going to go to bed, I think."

Ophelia walked out of the room, not really concentrating on where she was going. Noises floated through her ears, but she wasn't listening. Her mother's death never usually bothered her but, today, it had hit her hard. She'd never even seen a photo of her mother before. And she was dead. Sarah Williams had died, was murdered before Ophelia was even two years old. And Ophelia couldn't remember her.

"It's not fair!" she muttered, finally looking up. There was Harry.

"Ophelia!" He shouted. "Help, Mrs Weasley….Boggart, she's…"

Before Ophelia could demand an explanation; Harry had grabbed her hand and pulled her down the corridor and into the drawing room. There was Mrs Weasley, crying on the floor, over the dead body of Harry Potter.

"What?" Ophelia said, looking from the dead Harry to the living one.

"I'm going to get someone. You stay here with her!" Harry said, pointing to the sobbing Molly and leaving the room.

"What! Harry, no, I'll go-" but he had already left.

Ophelia tentivly stepped forward. She hated people crying, and she hated Boggarts. Maybe if she didn't look at it, it wouldn't change.

She stepped towards Mrs Weasley again. The body of Harry Potter remained so.  
Lia stepped forward once more. Suddenly, the Boggart began to change.  
A tall, hooded, black dementor swooped forward, towards Lia, who had frozen.  
_  
A man in a blood stained white coat approached a young Ophelia.  
"I'm sorry…we couldn't save her." _

The dementor moved closer towards a still frozen Lia.  
_  
"I want my money, bitch!" A greasy landlord yelled at an older Ophelia, cowering in a corner.  
"Just wait, until tomorrow!" She shouted, in desperation, as his fist raised.  
_

Harry returned with Sirius and Lupin in tow, but stopped in shock of the scene. Ophelia was frozen still.

Sirius pushed past Harry and ran towards her. "Ophelia!"  
_  
An intimidating wizard towered over a fifteen year old Lia.  
"You're the one who organised my produce stolen then?" He asked pointing a wand at her. "Crucio!"_

Ophelia fell backwards, as Sirius caught her just in time.

"It's alright Phee… I've got you."

"Dad," Ophelia whispered, before passing out.


	4. Chapter 4

Lia's eyes fluttered. She heard whispered voices around her, and could make out blurry shapes surrounding her.

"I don't understand, if it was just a Boggart, why did it affect her so badly?"

"Sometimes, if fears are that strong, Boggarts can imitate a creature's power."

Lia's head swum. Yes, there had been a Boggart, and of course it changed into a Dementor. The only thing she could not protect herself against. She opened her eyes. She was lying on her bed. Slightly concerned about how she had there, she sighed and tried to sit up properly.

"She's awake!" A voice shouted.

Lia winced. "Please, please, don't fricking shout," she said.

Sirius came up to the side of the bed.

"Stay still Ophelia, you don't want to strain yourself," he said, worriedly.

"I'm not an invalid!" She said, sitting up and getting out of bed, ignoring the shock of Sirius' concern. "I've only fainted; it's not the end of the world."

Lia noticed Lupin stood in her doorway. Why was the guy everywhere she looked these days?

"You should take it easy anyway." He said. "Can I get you anything?"

Lia rolled her eyes. "No. Now go away, I want to sleep."

Remus took the not-so-subtle hint, and left the doorway. Sirius, however, nodded, but stayed by her bedside, frantic worry still on his face.

Ophelia suppressed a yawn. "Seriously Sirius, I need to sleep. Go away."

He stood up reluctantly. "Are you sure you're okay?" He asked.

"I'm fine!"

"If there's anything you need-"

"I'm fine." Lia repeated, a little louder. Sirius seemed to admit defeat and left the room, shutting the door behind him as if it was made of glass. As he left, he grinned broadly.

She had called him 'Dad'.

Ophelia lied down, but her eyes were wide open. She was so tired she could sleep all day, but she was still wide-awake. The Boggart had opened up old fears. There were always men like that. Dodgy landlords, unhappy customers. Even the man Remus had rescued her from in Diagon Alley. She daren't close her eyes in case they infiltrated her dreams.

She rose up again. She decided to pack her trunk for Hogwarts to waste time and, hopefully, avert her thoughts.  
She looked at the bags of school equipment purchased in Diagon Alley. Sighing slightly, she started to sift through them.

A pair of hands started shaking Lia. She was surrounded by blackness, and couldn't see a thing. The stranger was shouting inaudible words.

The Boggart was still fresh in Ophelia's mind. Without thinking, she pulled back her fist and punched the stranger right on what she thought was its face.

"Bloody hell!"

"Wait a minute," Ophelia thought. "That sounds a lot like…" She opened her eyes. The darkness, it seemed, was the inside of her eyelids.

And the stranger…

"Oh shit! George!" Lia said, scrambling up from where she had fallen asleep on the floor. George was staggering in the middle of her bedroom, hands covering a profusely bleeding nose.

"Whad did you do thab dor?" He shouted, still grasping his nose. "I thing dit's broken!"

Ophelia started to walk towards him. "Let me have a look," she said. "I'm sure it's not as bad as it looks."

George looked petrified at the thought. "No!" He stumbled backwards, towards the door. "I'll go to by Mum!"

Ophelia still tried to get to him, but the stacks of books and caldron on the floor were a hard obstacle, and she tripped and fell flat on her face. George took the opportunity to run.

"Ouch." Lia said, groaning on the floor where her face was mashed against the Standard Book of Spells: Grade 5.

She knew she'd better wait a while before going downstairs, Mrs Weasley hated her enough without the added knowledge that she'd just broken her son's nose.

Standing up slowly, Ophelia looked at the mess on the floor. She'd fallen asleep while she was sorting through her books. Grabbing her wand, she made a flourishing movement, scooping everything off the floor and into the open trunk. She then went to the little wardrobe, and threw all the clothes in. She didn't care about tidiness. She was just about to go and have a shower before she remembered one last thing.

Lia knelt down to the loose floorboard near her bed, and wriggled it out of place once more. Grabbing the Old Magic book, she stuffed it at the bottom of the trunk, and replaced the floorboard.

After a refreshing shower, Ophelia walked down the stairs to the kitchen, where Mrs Weasley was running around franticly.

"Fred, go and remind Ron to pack his new socks, oh, and Ginny don't forget your new pyjamas!"

The two siblings rolled their eyes, and left the kitchen to continue their packing. Ophelia looked at the clock. It was 10 o'clock. What was Mrs Weasley fussing about? They had a full half an hour before they had to leave!

The other occupants of the kitchen were Remus and George. Lia attempted an apologetic smile at George, but he wasn't looking at her. She scowled and went to make herself some toast.

If George was going to ignore her, she wasn't going to beg for his forgiveness. She sat down next to Remus, which alerted Mrs Weasley of her presence.

"And Ophelia! Please refrain from punching people when they're trying to wake you up please!"

Anger was evident in her voice. Lia rolled her eyes.

"It was a reflex Mrs Weasley! I couldn't help it!" She protested, after swallowing her mouthful.

"Reflex or not, I wasted fifteen minutes to fix George's nose, so now we'll all have to be quicker in getting ready to go!" The older woman retorted, bustling around the kitchen with arms full of clean laundry.

"Whatever," Lia muttered, earning a chuckle from Remus.

"What?" She asked him, turning her head.

He grinned. "You are so much like Sirius." he replied.

Ophelia swallowed the rest of her toast.

Ten minutes later, everyone was finally ready, after Ginny nearly got knocked out and Mrs Weasley had probably lost her voice from shouting so much.

Harry was going to leave first, with Tonks and Mrs Weasley, and then Ron Hermione and Ginny were to go with Mr Weasley, followed by Mad-Eye with everyone's trunks, and finally, Ophelia, Fred and George.

It was all a bit complicated, Ophelia thought, just to get to school.

Harry, and Mrs Weasley were about to leave when Ophelia heard Mrs Weasley shouting again.

"Sirius! Dumbledore said NO!"

Wondering what her father was doing, Lia got up from her chair in the kitchen, where everyone was waiting, to go and see what was happening.

In the hallway, Harry stood petting a huge shaggy black dog, and Mrs Weasley was looking at it in anger.  
Lia was confused. Where was Sirius, and where did the dog come from?

Remus had followed her and was standing behind her.

"What's with the dog?" She asked. "That's body guarding gone a little too far."

"That's Sirius," He said slowly, as if it was common knowledge.

Lia was even more confused. "Right, that's Sirius." She said sarcastically. "I get it, Sirius, dog star, very funny. But really, what's with the dog?"

The dog cocked its head at her while she was talking, and sprung at her. Ophelia stepped backwards quickly putting her hands to her face, waiting for an impact, but it never came.

She lowered her arms from her face. In front of her stood her father.

She looked at him in utter disbelief.

"You're an animagus?"

Behind her, Remus gasped slightly. "You never told her?" He asked.

Sirius looked at the floor like a naughty schoolchild. "It's not something that ever came up, really."

Lia was still in doubt. "You're an animagus?" She repeated. "How?"

"Well…" Sirius began. "It's a long story. You see the thing is…"  
He looked at Remus guiltily.

"Remus is a werewolf."  
There was a slight pause.

"Yes, I know that, but what does it have to do with you turning into a dog?"

"You know?" Sirius asked, surprised.

"Yeah, Remus told me ages ago." Lia said.

"I didn't know you and Remus talked that much." Sirius said in bafflement.

"We talk all the time." Lia said, a little annoyed at her father.

Sirius looked at Remus with an odd expression. "Oh really?"

There was an awkward pause in the air. Ophelia looked at her father angrily. So what if Remus talked to her? He actually treated her like an adult, rather than Sirius, who was rather mollycoddling at times.

"We really have to go now!" Mrs Weasley said, breaking the silence. Lia looked up in surprise; she'd forgotten she and Harry were still in the room. Mrs Weasley was looking stressed still, while Harry was looking at the floor uncomfortably.

Sirius promptly transformed back into a dog, and left with Harry and Mrs Weasley. Lia stormed back into the kitchen.

"Do you want to know why he became Animagus?" Remus asked her when they'd sat down.

"No, don't bother." Lia replied. "If he can't be bothered to tell me I don't want to know."

She sat in a moody silence, until it was just her, Fred, George and Lupin left.

"Right, that's been five minutes, we can leave now." Remus said, looking at his watch.

Fred and George sprang to life, and bounded towards the door.

Remus looked at Lia and smiled. "Boys, we're apparating there, remember?"

The twins turned round and grinned sheepishly. "Oh yeah!" They replied.

"Ophelia, you've never been to the platform before, so you'll have to side-along with someone I'm afraid." Remus said to her.

"I'll do it!" George said. He walked over to where she stood.

"I thought you hated me because I broke your nose?" She whispered.

George grinned at her and leaned in close, and she got those uncomfortable butterflies again.

"Forgive and forget, that's my motto," He breathed into her ear, his lips brushing against her ear lobe. Lia squirmed. He was doing this on purpose, the prat.

"Are you ready? Three… Two…"

"Hold on tight, Lia" George said to her, and grabbed her hand, as she rolled her eyes and tried not to think of how nice it felt.

"One!"

A millisecond later, they had appeared on a busy train platform. Ophelia wrenched her hand away from George's and looked around her.

There were hundreds of wizards and witches around her age, all chatting to each other like old friends. It felt like she was at a party that she wasn't really invited to, as she saw all the girls gossiping, the boys laughing, and the parents saying emotional goodbyes.

She turned around to speak to the twins, but they weren't there. Neither was Remus. Lia looked around in alarm, till she saw them standing with everyone else from Grimmauld Place, including the black dog she now knew to be her father.

They were all saying their goodbyes. Ophelia allowed herself to be hugged by Mrs Weasley, as she said goodbye.

"We'll see you soon, I expect," Tonks said, hugging Ginny and Hermione.

"Write, all of you….now be good twins…on the train, hurry!" Mrs Weasley was saying distractedly, as the children said final goodbyes and turned toward the train.

Lia turned to Remus.

"See you at Christmas, I suppose." She said. Remus nodded.

"Have a great first term, Lia," He said, smiling at her.

Ophelia cursed herself, before giving him a hug. "Thanks… thanks for everything." She said.

"See you at Christmas." He replied, letting go of her.

Ophelia turned to follow Ginny on the train, when she saw Sirius the dog with his paws up on Harry's shoulders. She ignored this scene as jealousy surged through her, and got onto the train, sighing slightly.

When Lia hauled her trunk on the train, Ginny was the only familiar face she saw, followed by Harry who boarded after her.

"Lets go find a compartment guys." Ginny said, pulling her school trunk behind her. Lia didn't say anything, but followed afterwards.

"Have you seen Ron and Hermione?" Harry asked the redhead.

"Yeah, they had to go to the prefect's carriage for a bit." Ginny replied, looking in compartment windows. "Hey Neville!"

Lia looked back at Harry. From his expression, she guessed he still wasn't happy about not being a prefect. Feeling unsympathetic, she angrily turned away.  
"Hey Harry, Hi Ginny!" The round faced boy Ginny had greeted stepped forward a little. "I can't find anywhere to sit at all."

Ophelia looked past Ginny into the compartment they stood near. There was only one girl in there.

"Obviously not looking hard enough." She muttered before opening the door. "Alright if we sit here?" She asked the girl while putting her trunk in the luggage space.

The girl had dirty blonde hair and blue eyes that looked far too big for her face. She looked round from Neville, to Ginny, to Harry, and her eyes finally rested on Lia, who was already sat down without an answer.

"Yes." She said.

Ginny stepped into the compartment. "Guys, this is Luna Lovegood. She's in my year but in Ravenclaw."

"You're Harry Potter," Luna said, looking back at Harry. He looked baffled.

"Err, yeah I am."

"This is Neville Longbottom, and Ophelia Williams, Luna." Ginny carried on. Lia noticed Neville give her a shifty gaze.

"I'm new." She said to him quite rudely, answering his unspoken question. She had a feeling this would be a long ride.

"Williams, Ophelia!"

Ophelia gulped. After a boring train ride, in which the only exciting moment was an exploding plant, and an equally boring carriage ride, they had finally arrived at the castle.  
As soon as she stepped foot inside, a witch introduced herself as Professor McGonagall, and pulled her aside with all the little kids to be sorted.

She'd stood at the back of the group as McGonagall read out names in alphabetical order, and she could feel people's eyes on her. It was very uncomfortable. And now it was her turn to go up there and put on the bloody hat.

She tried to put on her confident street persona, but in this situation, with hundreds of people her own age gawping at her, whispering to each other about who she was, it faltered.

She was out of her element.

Lia walked up to the stool in full view of the entire school, and sat down. McGonagall attempted to place the hat on her head but Ophelia stopped her, taking the hat into her own hands.

"I think I can put a hat on myself, ta," She said, placing it on her head.

_Cheeky aren't we?_

"I didn't know a hat was so conversational," Ophelia thought.

_Well, when you only get out once a year, it brings it out of you _  
"So aren't you supposed to be sorting me?"

_Impatient too?_

"No, just can't be bothered to chat about the weather."

_Alright. Lets see what's in this mind of yours.  
Stubborn, very stubborn. You might want to work on that. And, ah yes, headstrong too… And lonely._

"I'm not lonely, hat."

_That's the stubbornness._

"Whatever."

_I think I know where to put you… _  
Ophelia held her breath.

George sat on the Gryffindor table, with his fingers crossed.

The hat opened its mouth.

"SLYTHERIN!"


	5. Chapter 5

It had been one week since Ophelia had been sorted. And in just one week she learnt that there were three very important rules for being a Slytherin.

The first was that if you were a Slytherin, every other house in Hogwarts despised you, and you were supposed to despise them.

Now, this was something Lia didn't really care about at first. Who cared is a bunch on immature kids didn't like her? She didn't need the support of them to get by.  
But after a week of shoves, jinxes and whispering behind her back she started to resent the fact she was part of the most hated group in school. And it seemed everyone wanted a crack at the 'home schooled Slytherin weirdo', as Lia had heard an obnoxious Ravenclaw describe her – before jinxing her, of course. She'd quickly become one of the least liked people in school.

The worst thing was the no-one from Grimmauld Place had spoken to her since the sorting. She'd spotted Hermione and Ron in the corridor the other day, and had started to walk towards them to say hi, but Ron had nudged Hermione quickly, and both of them hurried away, though she swore she saw the brunette give her an apologetic smile.

She hadn't even seen George since the sorting.

Also, the first rule applied to people who'd left Hogwarts too. Early Tuesday morning, Ophelia had a surprise at breakfast. A large barn owl swooped towards her place, with a letter attached to its leg. Lia slowly unfurled it, recognising Remus' writing.

_Dear Lia.  
I hope you're having a good first week at school, and you like it more than you expected to. Everyone here is fine, though the house is very quiet now it's just me and your Dad here. Mundungus dropped by, asking for you, he'd forgotten you were going to school.  
We've heard about what happened at your sorting. Don't worry about it. I know you've heard bad things about Slytherin, but there are some nice people there, everyone else just stereotypes.  
Don't forget to study hard. I think your dad wants to say something so I'll give this to him and let him send it.  
Love, Remus. _  
_Ophelia.  
Remus told me. Don't listen to his rubbish about there being nice people in that house. Go to see Dumbledore, there must have been a mistake. No daughter of mine and your mothers could possibly be a Slytherin.  
S._

Lia balled the letter up in her fist. How was it that Sirius' best friend's letter was more affectionate than her father's? And as for Sirius, no way was Lia demanding a re-sort. If he didn't like her being a Slytherin, he was going to have to lump it.

The second rule was not to mess with the girls of Slytherin house.

On her first night, Lia made the mistake of crossing Pansy Parkinson, by accidentally sitting on her bed.

"Argh!" The pug faced girl screamed as soon as she walked through the dorm door and saw her. "She's sat on my bed! Do something!"

Pansy's second in command stepped forward from behind her, the butch looking Millicent Bullstrode.

"You can't sit there, that's Pansy's bed."

Even her voice sounded manly.  
Lia looked in disgust at the two ugly girls stood before her, but didn't have the strength to argue back. She slowly stood up and heaved her trunk to the bed furthest from Pansy's.

"Is she even pureblood?" Pansy hissed, loud enough for Lia to hear. "I'm not having any old Mudblood in our dorm!"

Lia clenched her fists.

"I mean, look at her. She's so scruffy she probably doesn't even know who her parents are, let alone what blood she's got!"

Ophelia sighed, and pulled her wand out of her sleeve. Spinning round, she strode forwards and pointed it right under Parkinson's fat chin. Pansy opened her eyes wide at the sight of Lia's snarling face.

"Do you want to shut your ugly face?" Lia said, not hiding her instant hatred for the girl.

Parkinson was surprisingly calm, though she kept glancing down at the wand pointed at her. "No, actually I don't." She said. "You don't know how things work round here, do you? I'm in charge here. Nothing ever happens in this house without me finding out. I can make your life hell, newbie. I can make your housemates hate you within the space of half an hour. And I wouldn't want to get on the bad side of them. So I'd get that wand out of my face if I were you."

Ophelia sighed, and moved her wand. Naturally, she decided to punch her in the face instead.

At the end of the first week, it wasn't just the Ravenclaws, Hufflepuffs and Grffindors that hated her. It was her housemates too. It seemed Pansy's pathetic threat was one she had followed through. Lia didn't know how she'd done it, but now most of the house treated her like scum.

Lia soon found out Pansy liked to big herself up though. All this "I'm in charge of Slytherin talk" was rubbish. She was only so high up in the social spectrum because she was screwing Draco Malfoy, the real hierarchy in Slytherin. Younger students feared him, and older students respected him, all because his family were so well connected. Draco had been civil to her during the first feast, remembering her from the robe shop, but after Lia punched Pansy, he didn't want anything to do with her.

It made Lia miss the Leaky Caldron even more. She used to have that kind of respect. Grown men used to beg her for help in their criminal dealings, because Ophelia knew everyone in the criminal world. Sometimes, she wondered how they were surviving without her. She'd got close to writing to Dung a few times, before remembering she wasn't supposed to be a criminal anymore. She was supposed to be a schoolgirl.

The third rule wasn't really a rule, but more a fact of Ophelia's new crappy life.

Tracey Davis was an absolute life saver.

Another Slytherin outcast, Lia had warmed to her like no other person. She was the closest thing to a friend Lia had ever had.

"Hey look girls it's the Mudblood and the freak!" Parkinson sneered on Friday morning, as she passed them at breakfast.

"Oh look Phee, it's the Pug and the Slags!" Tracy imitated Parkinson's high pitched whine before Ophelia had a chance to retort.

Lia still hadn't got used to school life, so it was a relief to have someone to defend her, not that she'd ever admit it.

Trace was branded a freak because of her dress sense. She had two piercings in her nose, three in her ears and one in her tongue. Her jeans had rips and she always adorned her uniform with badges and pins.

"She's gotten fat, anyway," Trace commented while buttering toast.  
Relief or not, Tracy was still a Slytherin. "And she's got spots." She added.

Lia snorted. "It's cause she cakes make up on her ugly face all day,"

"If she was clever enough to read, she'd look in a beauty spell book." Tracy commented. "I don't' get why she calls you Mudblood still, both you're parents were wizards."

"Hmmm" Lia murmured, watching the Gryffindor table. She hadn't told Trace about Sirius, because he was still a wanted man, just that she never knew her magical parents, but lived with her aunt, which was practically true.

"Potions next," Trace said vaguely.

"Yeah…" Lia said, watching Fred and George fool around on the Gryffindor table. For a moment, George's eyes met hers, and she looked away sadly.

"Right, potions!" Lia said, glancing at George one last time.


	6. Chapter 6

She actually looks like a frog!"

It was a Wednesday morning and Ophelia was sat at the back of the Defence against the Dark Arts classroom, awaiting her first lesson from Umbridge.

Lia glanced at Trace as she slid into the seat next to her.

"Tell me about it," She replied, watching as Hermione, Ron and Harry entered, the latter giving her the slightest of smiles. Lia didn't return it.

"Good afternoon children!" Umbridge said loudly when the last student, Malfoy, swaggered in. Lia smirked as she heard the word "children". She got the feeling herself and Umbridge were going to get on like a house on fire.

"Well, that won't do!" The squat woman exclaimed when nobody replied to her. I'd like you to please reply, "Good afternoon Professor Umbridge…Good afternoon class?"

Lia snorted loudly as the rest of the class chanted back at the teacher. Umbridge looked at her for a moment, but decided to stay silent for now.

"Wands away and quills out please."

Trace sighed from beside Ophelia as she grabbed parchment out of her bag. Lia put her wand in her pocket for now. She felt a little vulnerable without it. Umbridge started to write something on the board, and Lia felt her concentration ebbing away already. And to her annoyance, her thoughts seemed to float towards a certain red headed twin. George hadn't spoken to her since her sorting, which annoyed her, and the fact that it annoyed her added to her annoyance. For some reason, every time she saw him her heart sped up, her breath caught in her throat and every sane thought that was in her head completely left. There was something wrong with her.

She couldn't even talk to Trace about it, because to Trace, she was Ophelia Williams, who was a transfer from home schooling, and who hadn't spent the whole summer with a great part of Gryffindor house, past and present. Nah, to Trace, Lia was another Slytherin, outcast from the rest but in some ways just the same, just like her.

"We're not going to use magic?"

Lia snapped out of her thoughts as she heard Ron's exclamation. Frowning slightly, she looked up and saw many of the class with their hands up, and so she looked at the course aims she should have been copying. He was right; it didn't mention using magic at all. How ridiculous was that?

Umbridge was now speaking to Hermione. "Yes Miss Granger?"

"Isn't the whole point of Defence lessons to practice defensive spells?" She asked, trying to sound polite, but Lia could hear the anger evident in her voice.

"I'm afraid you are not qualified to decide the 'whole point' of my lesson Miss Granger. Some very clever and much older Wizards have devised this new study programme. This means you will be learning in a secure, and risk-free-"

Harry interjected before Lia could open her mouth.

"What's the use of that?" He said "If we get attacked it won't be risk free!"

Umbridge smiled in a sick way. "Hand Mr Potter. Surely you do not expect to get attacked during my classes?"

A Gryffindor girl raised her hand. "So you're saying the first time we'll use these spells will be in out exams?"

Umbridge continued on. "If you have studied the theory-"

Lia'd had enough of this idiocy. "Yeah, we might not get attacked in the lessons but what about outside of them?" She shouted, not bothering to put up her hand. "If we never get a chance to practice the spells how are we supposed to use them in the real world?"

"There is nothing in the 'real world' that would want to attack students such as yourself!"

"Are you really such a sub-standard defence teacher that you think there're no dark creatures in the world? There're such things as Leithoids, Chimeras, Dementors, not to mention dodgy Wizards you pass in the street who think they can have a go! Are you trying to tell me that we don't deserve to learn how to defend ourselves? I thought this class was all about defence?" Lia shouted.

"Detention Miss Williams. Tomorrow night, my office."

"Save it. I'm leaving." Lia answered, standing up grabbing her things and walking straight out the door.

"Like I said children, there is nothing that would want to protect students such as yourself" Lia heard Umbridge say as she stormed out the door. She'd pay for walking out later, she guessed but she didn't care. She'd been holding in her anger since she got here, and her frustration with Sirius, George and not to mention Pansy Parkinson had vented out slightly with her outburst at Umbridge.

She started to wander the corridors. She didn't want to go to the common room; her housemates were too annoying to endure. She certainly wasn't going to go back to class. She figured she'd go to the owlery and write to Remus or something.

Now she had a destination, she started to storm up the flight of stairs. That Umbridge woman had to be the most stupid person she had ever met in her entire life. And that included some of the stuff she'd had to endure in Grimmauld Place. Surely the whole point of magic school was to learn magic? Ophelia thought that the sooner she left this place the better, if the teachers were like that old toad.

She'd reached the owlery. She pushed the door, but it seemed to be stuck. Something was jamming it the other side.

"Oh, for Merlin's sake!" She exclaimed, pushing it with all her might. It suddenly opened, and Lia found herself falling onto whatever had been blocking it.

Or whoever, it turned out to be. This was an annoyingly familiar situation.

"Err…Hi" The obstructer said.

Lia shot up as quickly as she could. "You wanna save the formalities for when I'm not lying on top of you George?"

He seemed to snap to his senses. "Ha, yeah… of course." He stood up, slower than she had done, and Lia found herself looking anywhere but him, otherwise she was sure she would not be able to speak at all.

"You really shouldn't be blocking the door, you know!" She said, more angrily than it was supposed to come out.

"Well, I didn't expect some lunatic to barge right in here," he said, half laughing, until his face seemed to remember something and he stopped. "Err, I have to go anyway. Bye Lia,"

Don't go Lia thought, but snapped herself out of it.

"Hey, maybe we can hang out sometime? I haven't spoken to any of you lot since we've been here." She spat out as quickly as she could, cursing herself at the same time for it.

George's eyes lingered on Ophelia's robes. "Err, maybe. I think everyone's busy with all the homework though, but I'll see." Not meeting her eyes, he left swiftly.

It was only after he left that Lia noticed what he'd been looking at. Her Slytherin house badge.

_Dear Remus.  
This school is the biggest pile of dragon dung I've ever had the misfortune to endure. I want to come back to the house, as much as I thought I'd never say that.  
It's just… I guess being a Slytherin is harder than I thought. After my dad's letter I was utterly determined to prove him wrong. Just because I'm in the same house Voldemort was, it doesn't mean I'm going to turn out like him, does it? Everyone here seems to think so. Everyone in my own house hates me because of some stupid childish rumour, and everyone in the other houses hates me because they think I'm just like the rest. I have one friend, and even she's a bit of a bitch, though to be honest, I probably am too._

And don't you dare tell anyone from the Order how sappy this letter was or I'll break your face.  
Lia.

After sending her letter, Lia wandered the corridors some more, still annoyed by George. What an absolute, well, you can guess the kind of names she was coming up for him.

"Argh!" She shouted in frustration and kicked a nearby suit of armour.

"Shouldn't you be in class, Miss Williams?" A voice sounded behind her.

"Probably." She replied, turning around to see none other than her headmaster. Crap.

"And why aren't you in that class?" He asked her, but she thought she saw a smile in his eyes.

"Because it's all a bunch of, well, rubbish, if I'm going to be honest!" She replied.

Dumbledore smiled. "Well, they say honesty is the best policy. Do you want to tell me why you walked out of Professor Umbridge's class?"

Lia frowned, how come he knew what she'd done?

"A good headmaster always knows where his pupils should be, Ophelia. Especially those prone to skipping lessons."

"That toad isn't let us use magic! And that's completely ridiculous, so I left the lesson." Lia exclaimed.

Ophelia expected the Headmaster to be angry, but he simply sighed slightly.

"Ophelia, you must understand that Professor Umbridge is working for the Ministry. As much as I… disagree with her teaching methods, for now it would be best for you to keep on her good side, to avoid further…suspicion."

"What are you getting at?" Lia asked.

"I think it would be a good idea not to give her reason to be curious about you. Given your…home situation. Professor Umbridge is in direct contact with the Minister himself."

Lia opened her mouth to speak.

"Now, as it's nearly time for lunch I suggest you run along to the Great Hall. Goodbye Miss Williams." And with that he briskly walked away, humming softly to himself.

Lia just stared after him. Was he trying to say that Umbridge could find out about Sirius? The only thing she knew for definite after that conversation was that her Headmaster was the strangest man she'd ever met.

"Oh my lord, Phee, I cannot believe you!"

Lia laughed to herself as Trace sat next to her at dinner that night.

"I bet Umbridge exploded." Lia said, helping herself to some sausages.

"Oh, she barely had time to readjust herself before Potter started on her too!" Trace exclaimed.

Lia put down her fork, glancing over to the Gryffindor table where Harry sat looking very uncomfortable. "Harry? That goody-goody? What did he say?"

"Ooh, first name terms with Potter are we?" Trace said in a sing-song voice, but she was only joking. "Well, he started shouting about You-Know-Who wanting to kill everyone, and all that guff."

"Oh right. Well hopefully she's forgotten about my punishment." Lia replied, watching George enter the hall with Fred. He looked straight towards the Slytherin table, as if he was looking for her, but Lia looked away from him with all her strength. She would not be some simpering obsessed little girl. He didn't want to know her, and that was the end of it. Merlin, you'd think she had a crush on this boy! She didn't, she reassured herself. Of course she didn't. Did she?

"Oh yeah, she told me to remind you, you're detention's tomorrow night at five." Trace said bluntly, sticking her fork into a potato.

"Great."


	7. Chapter 7

"Yeah, and he reckons he fought You-Know-Who, and won. How ridiculous is that?"

Ophelia groaned as she opened her eyes. If she heard one more comment about Harry Potter and how his mind was deteriorating she was going to explode. It was all the whole school was talking about yesterday, and it seemed they hadn't forgotten.  
She sat up as Parkinson and Bullstrode gossiped some more. Well, you could say gossiping, it was more of Parkinson rabbiting on, and Bullstrode grunting in agreement.

Lia crawled out of bed and into the bathroom.

"Morning Mudblood!" Pansy said spitefully. Lia just rolled her eyes, too tired to retaliate.  
After her shower, Lia came back into an empty dorm room, which was usual for a school day. Trace was very much a morning person, and she was usually one of the first for breakfast, and Pansy left the dorm early to go and flirt with Draco, and of course wherever Pansy went, Millicent went too.  
This left Lia with the mornings to herself, though by the time she was up, she had about ten minutes until her first lesson.

Lia's bed was, annoyingly, the furthest away from the bathroom, and the nearest to the windows. At least she had the curtains around it, to block out the noise of Bullstrode's snoring. Her things were strewn around her corner of the room. Lia vaguely thought she should tidy it one day soon, before deciding not to.

She grabbed her school shirt and kilt, which she detested. Lia never wore skirts. Pulling on her green and silver tie, she got her books and walked down the stairs to the Slytherin common room. It was an ugly room, or so Lia thought. It could almost be a dungeon, with the low ceilings and the greenish hue cast from being underneath the lake. It was adorned in skulls and snakes, and Slytherin banners. There were two small sofas, but the rest of the furniture was hard backed and uncomfortable. There was a small bookcase, full of books about Salazaar Slytherin, the founder of the house.

Lia did not pass through the room quickly, as she usually did. It was empty, as was regular in the mornings, and Lia wasn't going to let Parkinson's earlier comment slide. She strode over to Pansy's usual spot, one of the green velvet sofa's in the far corner, where she sat in the evenings, gushing over Draco. She put her wand to the place where she knew the pug-faced girl would sit, and muttered some well-chosen words.

On her first evening, her head of house, Snape, had given a speech on house unity, and how he would severely punish inter-house fighting. But Lia never played by the rules, especially when provoked, and anyway, Snape had seemed like a bit of a creep to her, even if he was in the Order.

Later, after a mind numbingly boring Charms lesson, she met up with Trace outside the Transfiguration classroom.

"Why are you so happy?" She said to an extremely chipper Trace.

"Just had an awesome Herbology lesson." Trace said, grinning. "I shared a plant pot with Terry Boot from Ravenclaw. He so couldn't take his eyes off me."

Lia just scoffed softly. Trace claimed to be in love with a different boy nearly every day. It seemed this Ravenclaw would be the topic of many conversations for the next hour or so.

The door opened, and McGonagall, the transfiguration teacher came out. The class attempted to file into the room, but McGonagall stopped them

"Now, class, kindly wait a moment while I explain this year's seating arrangement to you!"

The corridor erupted in load groans.

"Seating arrangement?"  
"But who am I going to copy off now?"  
"Doesn't she know we share this class with the Slytherins?

Ophelia glared at the last speaker, a Gryffindor boy with sandy hair.

"Settle down students!" McGonagall shouted. "Now after problems with last year's OWL class I had decided to assign you your seats. There is a seating plan posted on the door. Find your assigned seat and sit in it. There will be no changes to it."

Ophelia and Trace, at the back of the line had to wait a while to find out their seats.

"I don't care where I am as long as it's nowhere near Parkinson." Trace muttered, as the line grew smaller.

"Same," Lia replied, watching the space near the door. From the rest of the class' reactions, McGonagall hadn't been kind in assigning seats.

"Score! I'm sat next to Malfoy, that'll really annoy the pug!" Trace grinned evilly as they looked at the plan. "What about you?"

Lia looked at the parchment to see her name written at the back of the classroom next to…Hermione Granger.

She groaned. Hermione was alright, but she was just a little too annoying.

Lia found her seat and sat down. Hermione gave her a small smile which she ignored. This year was going to be very long.

Half an hour later, she was enjoying herself much more. They were vanishing snails, and Ophelia, who had mastered this spell when she was about fourteen, had vanished hers on the first go, and was now watching Hermione struggle with hers.

"How did you do yours so quickly? This is really complicated magic!" She eventually said, looking at Lia in annoyance.

"Yeah well when you deal in stolen goods, sometimes you need to get rid of it quickly." Lia answered dully.

"Well done Miss Williams, Ten points to Slytherin!" McGonagall sounded from her left, as she was checking on the class.

"Whoop," Lia muttered under her breath.

Hermione looked even more annoyed.

"Look, you're flourishing your wand a bit. You need to keep the movements sharp and swift." Lia finally said, fed up with the Gryffindor's frustration.

Hermione looked even more annoyed that Lia was trying to help, but she tried anyway. The snail vanished.

Hermione gave Lia a small smile, and Lia went back to observing the class' struggles. She saw Trace leaning heavily towards Draco Malfoy, silently sniggering at Parkinson's enraged face. By the time the bell had rang, no one apart from herself and Hermione managed to vanish their snails, and they were the only ones not set the homework.

After a quick lunch, it was time for Care of Magical Creatures, again with the Gryffindors. For two houses that were supposed to hate each other, they sure shared a lot of lessons, Lia thought. What a stupid idea.

This class was outside in the grounds, and without Trace, who took Muggle Studies for some bizarre reason, Lia walked down towards the small wooden hut, where the teacher stood waiting behind a table. She heard a loud, shrill giggle that she knew all too well as Malfoy, surrounded by Pansy and his usual band of ignorant followers made their way onto the grounds.  
The joke wasn't on her, for once though, and as they approached the table, it seemed pretty clear it was on Potter.

"Is this everyone?" The Professor, Grubbly-Plank, said. "Good. Now who can tell me what these creatures are called?"

Hermione lifted her hand quickly and Lia cringed. To the right of her, Malfoy did a stupid impression of her, jumping up and down like a moron, which Parkinson found extremely amusing.

Ten minutes later, and Malfoy still hadn't stopped with his stupid impressions. Lia was getting sick of Pansy's shrill laughter, and as Hermione answered another question correctly, she'd had enough.

"Cut it out Malfoy! No one finds you funny, apart from the brain-dead" She said, angrily, glancing at Pansy. He looked round for the source of the interruption and smirked when he saw Ophelia.

"Going to make me, Mudblood?" He replied.

"Keep calling me that, and I bloody well will," Lia said, raising her eyebrows at him.

"What, _Mudblood_?" He antagonised.

"What's the disruption back there? Ten points from Slytherin!" Grubbly-Plank shouted.

Lia looked round and realised most of the class was watching her and Malfoy. Defiantly, she raised her wand and sent a Jelly Legs Jinx at him, and he toppled over.

"Miss Williams! Twenty points from Slytherin!" The teacher shouted.

"Whatever," she replied, turning back around to watch the lesson, and she saw Harry grinning at her. She managed a small smile back.

Grubbly-Plank spent a few more minutes talking about the bowtruckes, whilst Theodore Nott performed the counter-jinx to fix Malfoy's legs. He looked extremely peeved off, which Lia was glad about. They got set a task to sketch the magical creatures, and she, sighing, stepped forward to retrieve one, when Malfoy stood in front of her.

"I'd be careful, _Black_." He said, menacingly.

"Excuse me?" Lia said, raising her eyebrows. How did he know her real name?

"I know you're not really a Mudblood. I'm just going along with that little rumour to amuse Pansy." He smirked. "Like I said, I'd be careful, unless I wanted people to know who I really was…cousin. I knew you were too familiar that day in Diagon Alley. Reminded me of some of my mother's family. It didn't take long for me to put two and two together."

Lia was still unimpressed. "Like I give a shit what a load of poxy school kids think, Malfoy. Now get out of my way."

She shoved him away and walked off. Malfoy didn't say anything, but she was sure she saw him look at her in a peculiar way as she left him.

It was five o'clock that evening, and Ophelia was on her way to Umbridge's detention. Making her way down the corridors she wondered how Malfoy knew about her last name. She'd been so careful at Hogwarts, and she couldn't think of anything that would have given her away. Maybe she should write to Remus again. She still needed to reply to his last letter.

_Dear Ophelia,  
In fear of getting a 'broken face', I didn't show anyone else your letter. Although your dad did ask how you were. Maybe you should start writing to him?  
Of course you won't turn out like Voldemort. I stick by what I said before, some outstanding witches and wizards have come from your house and they are not dark in the slightest.  
I'm not convinced everyone hates you. Silly rumours lose their power after time and I'm sure you'll make friends soon. And if not, dungbombs under the bed are always a good idea.  
And you're not a bitch. Just a little…truthful.  
Tonks and Arthur are here in the kitchen as I'm writing this, they hope your well.  
Remus. _

Lia'd finally reached Umbridge's room. She grimaced. It was full of flowers, pictures of ugly, ugly kittens, and the sort of décor you'd find in an old woman's house. Slowly, she walked in, to saw Potter standing there. She looked at him curiously before Umbridge spoke.  
Lia jumped. In her flowery outfit, she was nearly camouflaged against the hideous wallpaper.

"You're late, Miss Williams."

"Yeah, I got lost," Lia replied, not missing a beat. "I've only been here a week and I didn't know where your office was."

"That is not my problem," Umbridge replied. "Now, sit down, both of you. I hope you understand why you are here. I will not stand for disruption in my classroom, especially with extreme lack of respect for the school rules with walking out of lessons, silly comments and nasty attention seeking lies."

She aimed the last part towards Harry, who clenched his fists.

"Now sit down please." She continued. Lia looked behind her and saw two desks set up with parchment and quills on them. Lines? How cliché.

"I would like you, Mr Potter to write 'I must not tell lies.' And Miss Williams, you must write, 'I must always follow rules'".

Lia rolled her eyes.

"How many times?" Harry asked, dully.

"Oh, as long as it takes to sink in!" Umbridge said.

Lia lifted her quill. "You haven't given us any ink." She stated.

"Oh, you won't need any." Umbridge squeaked, as if she was trying to stop herself from laughing.

"Okaaay then…" Lia whispered. She put the quill to the page and started to write the lines Umbridge had set her.

_I must always follow rules._

As she put the quill to the page, the words appeared on the parchment in shiny red ink.

_I must always follow rules. _

Umbridge sat herself down behind and looked at them both as if waiting for them to say something.

_I must always follow rules. _Lia heard Harry make a noise next to her. It sounded a little like a sigh.

"Yes Mr Potter?" Umbridge asked, smiling her sickly smile.

"Nothing." He replied, glaring at her.

I must always follow rules.

"Yes that's right." Umbridge said.

_I must always follow rules._

Lia noticed a tickling sensation on the back of her hand. She went to scratch it and her breath caught in horror.

_I must always follow rules_, shining brightly on the back of her hand, before it healed again, leaving an angry red patch where it had been. She looked at the red ink on the page.

She was writing in her own blood.

"Everything alright, Miss Williams?" Umbridge had noticed Lia's pause in writing.

Lia looked at the woman with all the hatred she could muster. Her first thought was to angrily stand up, upturn the desk and hex the toad.  
But she was at school, and things were done differently here. From her first few days, she had learnt that the type of fighting you had to do was sneaky, and secret. So she composed herself.

"Everything's fine Professor," She replied, giving her a wide grin.

An hour or so later, she and Harry were free to go. The left the classroom at the same time, and started down the corridor together. Harry looked just as angry as Lia felt.

"She's an old hag." Harry stated simply, clenching his fists.

"She's a toad." Lia added, quickening her pace.

"We've got to do something about her." She said suddenly, stopping. She was too angry to even realise she and Harry were having an actual conversation, something that hadn't happened yet at Hogwarts

"Like what?" Harry said, sighing. "She's here because of Fudge, we can't do anything."

"I don't know. But we can't let her get away with this bullshit!" Lia kicked a suit of armour in the corridor. It shouted in displeasure.

They both stayed silent for a while.

"The Gryffindor tower's this way," Harry said finally, gesturing to his left. "I'll… see you around, I suppose."

"Yeah, I guess so," Lia replied, turning around to go back to the Slytherin dungeons.

"Oh, Lia!" Harry said suddenly.

"What?"

"Thanks…cheers for sticking up for Hermione today in class." He said, smiling slightly.

"Yeah, well, someone had to jinx Malfoy, he was driving me crazy." Lia replied, running her hands through her hair.

"Goodnight,"

"Yeah, night."

When Lia got to the door of the common room, she heard hysterical screaming coming from inside. Smirking to herself, she gave the password and walked into the room.

Pansy was running up the stairs, her face covered in huge red boils and blisters. It seemed that Lia's hex had worked. She laughed heartily, and Trace came up to her.

"Well done Phee." She said, giving her a high five.

"Hey, I had nothing to do with that!" Lia feigned innocence, but grinned evilly.

"How was Umbridge?" Trace asked, as they followed the shrieking Pansy up to the dorm.

Lia contemplated telling Tracy about the detention, but something told her that Lia complaining about it was just what Umbridge wanted. No, she wasn't going to let Umbridge get to her.

"Alright. Just lines."

Later that night, Lia woke up absolutely starving. She'd missed dinner because of that stupid detention, and now she was famished.

She sat up, and put a jumper on. She vaguely remembered Remus telling her about the kitchens at Hogwarts, and that they were near the Hufflepuff common room, which wasn't far from her own. She got out of bed and walked past Trace, Millicent, and Pansy's empty bed (She was still in the hospital wing) and walked out of the door.  
She crept out of the common room, and walked down the dingy corridor.

After about half an hours aimless wandering, she heard loud footsteps behind her. They were quick in pace, and sounded like they knew exactly where they were going. It could only be a teacher.  
Cursing silently, she scuttled down the corridor, round a corner, looking for a place to hide. She spotted a broom cupboard on the left of an old tapestry. She quickly went towards it, and opened the door, dashing inside. It was full of mops, and other cleaning equipment. It stank. Lia held her breath  
After a few minutes, it seemed as if the coast was clear. The footsteps had died down; whoever it was must have gone another way in the labyrinth of hallways. Ophelia opened the cupboard door, stumbled out, and finally took a breath of clean air.

"Lia?" A voice whispered to her. Lia looked around suspiciously. The noise came from the tapestry on the wall. She got her wand out, and took a step towards it.

"Hey, it's only me!" The voice said, and George Weasley stepped out from behind the tapestry, holding his hands up.

Lia didn't lower her wand.

"Hiding from Filch too then? What are you doing up so late?" George asked brightly, smiling at her. Lia was very confused. Last time she saw this boy, he was desperate to get away from her. Now he wanted to talk?

"Finding the kitchens." The words came out of her mouth even though she didn't want them to.

"Oh, I've just come from there. They're just round the corner here, wanting me to take you?" He offered her his hand.

"What is your problem?" Ophelia blurted out.

"Excuse me?" He asked, looking very confused.

"I mean, you spend all summer trying to get into my pants, or whatever you were doing, and then as soon as I get to school, you don't speak to me at all! And when I tried to be nice, or something, you just totally disregarded me! Now all of a sudden you're being all chummy again? What is with you?"

George looked stricken. "Look, I'm sorry about yesterday, okay? It's just…"

"It's just what?" Lia spat out angrily. George stumbled. "C'mon Georgie, spit it out!"

"You're a Slytherin!" He managed finally.

"Yes George, I'm a Slytherin. Slytherin and proud! But newsflash to you, you're the only one of us that gives a shit about it. You're the only one who's acting like a complete idiot because of it." She turned on her feet and walked away.

"Ophelia, wait!" George said, following her.

"Save it!" She said, not looking round.

Suddenly, she felt a strong arm on her shoulders that spun her around. Before she had a chance to think, her mouth was captured by his, in a kiss that made her knees want to buckle. Ophelia hungrily returned it, all anger flying away. She lifted her arms and put them over his shoulders, and his moved from her shoulders to around her waist. As the kiss continued, Ophelia's wand dropped from her hands and onto the floor. George lifted one hand and ran it through her wavy hair.

Suddenly Lia's senses came back to her. What was she doing, snogging George Weasley like there was no tomorrow? Opening her eyes, she drew away from him.

"Lia, I'm-"

WHACK! Ophelia slapped George straight across the cheek and stormed off towards Slytherin dorms.

"Lia!" George called, but she didn't stop until she got into her bed.

"Crap." She muttered, as her stomach grumbled loudly.


	8. Chapter 8

"Where the hell is my bloody wand?"

"Geez, calm down Phee. Where did you have the thing last?"

Lia was most defiantly not in a good mood the next morning. She was still starving from the previous night, she'd gotten hardly any sleep, and, oh yeah, she'd stupidly snogged George Weasley in the middle of the night.

And now she'd lost her wand.

"Don't patronise me Trace." Lia scowled, giving her friend a death stare. "I had it last night when I was with-" She froze where she stood beside her bed and promptly stopped speaking. The last thing she wanted was for Trace to find out, but her audible gasp told Lia she had already heard enough.

"You were with someone?" Tracy squealed. "I wondered why you came to bed so late. I just thought you'd gone to the kitchens or something. So? Who was it?" Trace looked at Lia in excitement

Lia thought on her feet, a lie coming quickly to her lips. "I did go to the kitchens dumbass. I ran into some bloody Gryffindor who tried to give me detention."

"Was it that Johnson again? Who does she think she is?"

Lia sighed in relief as Trace bought her story, and ignored her rants about the Gryffindor Prefect. Instead, she searched under her bed for her wand for what seemed the millionth time, but it was nowhere to be seen. That must mean that she'd left it in the corridor with George. Wonderful.

"Damn it!" She exclaimed out loud, crawling out from under the bed.

"Yeah, I know, she's a real bitch isn't she?" Trace continued, thinking Lia was listening to her. Lia rolled her eyes.

"Shut up Trace. I left my wand in the potions corridor…I'm gonna go see if anyone has nicked it yet." She grabbed her jumper and threw it over her head.

Trace flopped back into her bed as Lia left the dorm. "Don't forget we've got Defence in half an hour!" She called to her.

Lia scowled as she remembered the detention she'd had yesterday with Umbridge. Glancing down at her hand, she saw it was still red raw, and she clenched it into a fist. She'd already decided that she was going to teach Umbridge a lesson, she just didn't know how yet. She wasn't used to fighting her battles in secret. In her old life, she'd just give Umbridge a nasty hex.

Lia walked down the dungeon corridors, trying to remember which one her encounter with George occurred in. Last night she'd been too pissed off to recount her steps. Bloody Weasley! Why did he have to kiss her like that? Or rather, why did he have to insult her and kiss her in the same moment? His words from last night still rang though her mind.

_"You're a Slytherin!"_

What was with him, and his stupid games?

Lia looked around the spot she'd stood the night before. She looked all around her, even in the closet she'd hidden in from Flitch. Her wand was nowhere to be seen.

"So that means Weasley's got it." She said to herself dully. She cringed inwardly. Having to go to him and ask for her wand back seemed very demeaning to Lia. But she couldn't put it off. She felt so, so weak, without her wand. It was an odd emotion for Lia to encounter, and she defiantly did not like it. It looked like she'd have to speak to George sooner than she wanted to.

Scowling, she made her way to the Great Hall. This day was not going right for Lia. She stomped her way up the steps and into the Entrance hall, where students were making their way too and from breakfast. She peeked into the hall, where she saw Fred and George joking at the Gryffindor table and her heart leapt. She had a peculiar feeling around her midriff and for some reason, all she wanted to do was go over there and snog the boy senseless.

"Stop it!" She told herself. She breathed inwards and prepared herself to walk over there, constantly cursing the butterflies in her stomach. She'd just taken the first step when a unknown face popped up in front of hers.

"Hello!"

Lia took a step back, and took the stranger's appearance in. She had the longest, blonde hair Lia had ever seen, and the biggest eyes that made her look like some sort of owl. But what really caught Lia's eyes were the things this girl was wearing. She had earrings that seemed to be fashioned out of radishes, a necklace made out of corks, and she was clutching a magazine labelled 'The Quibbler', which explained the girl's appearance to Lia. Only weirdoes read that magazine, it was full of crazy conspiracy theories, and spells that didn't work.

"Err, hi?" Lia answered.

"You're Ophelia Williams." The girl said in response.

"Yeah, I know my own name, thanks. What do you want?" Lia said angrily. She really wanted to get her wand back as soon as possible.

"I've got something for you." The girl replied, smiling.  
Lia waited, looking at the girl curiously. She was quite strange.  
And annoying.

"Well? What is it?" She asked, getting more annoyed by the second.

"You see, he said he would give it to you yourself, but he doesn't have time. So I got asked. Apparently he seemed very distracted at the time." The girl said in her slow voice. "I think his head was full of Wrackspurts." She added in a stage whisper.

"Look, I've got things to do. What the hell is it you've got to give me?" Lia asked, ignoring the comment about make believe creatures, as she noticed Fred and George stand up at the table. The girl promptly smiled, and started rooting through her bag.

"Can you hold this please?"

A large mushroom, several beetle eyes, what looked like a bag of frog legs (But Lia wasn't sure), more butterbeer corks, and finally, last month's issue of the quibbler came out of the girls bag. Lia stood there with her arms outstretched while the Weasley twins walked right past her. She opened her mouth to speak to George, but he ducked his head and practically sprinted past her. Lia's heart sank, but was quickly full of anger. So he was ignoring her now? Oh wait, of course. One of the most popular Gryffindors in the school could not damage his reputation by speaking to a lowly Slytherin in public!

"Here you go!"

Lia snapped out of her silent rage. "What!" She said, not hiding her anger.

"Your wand. George Weasley asked Harry to give it to you, and Harry asked Ron, and Ron asked Ginny, and Ginny asked me." The girl smiled again, and passed it to her.

"What- that many people had my wand? Why didn't George just give it to me himself? He's just bloody walked right past me!"

The girl gasped. "Maybe a Blibbering Humdinger crawled in his ear when he was sleeping! They can-"

"Whatever, cheers for giving me my wand." Lia cut in, throwing the pile of objects into the girls hands, and walking to Defence.

She really, really, bloody hated George Weasley.

_Hermionie's got an idea_

Lia looked at the note that was thrust onto her desk during the Defence lesson. She glanced at Trace, who was busy writing notes to the Herbology boy she had a crush on. She then glanced at Harry, who was the one who threw the note to her.

**Hermionie's always got a bloody idea. Care to expand a little? **

She flicked her wand to levitate it to Harry's desk. She looked back to the chapter they were supposed to be reading; something about counter curses. They were bloody pointless, in Lia's opinion. All you need is a powerful shield charm, one of Lia's specialities.

_About getting back at Umbridge_

Harry threw the note onto Lia's desk again. Lia read it quickly the sighed.

**Well what is it then?  
**

_I'm getting to that. She wants me to teach people defence._

**A study group? Whoa, that's really fighting back in style. **  
_  
I know when you're being sarcastic, even in writing. She wants me to teach spells. The stuff Umbridge will never let us learn. So we can help arm people against __Voldemort__ You-know-who. _  
**  
I'm not a coward, you can say VOLDEMORT. So basically, it's like some sort of underground… rebellion against frog face? I'm up for that.**

_I'm not too sure. Me, teaching people spells? They all think I'm a nutcase. I'm not that great at magic myself anyway. You know more than me._

**No chance Potter. Have you forgotten majority of the school hate me? I'll help you though.**

_Will you? Even though, y'know…_

**I'm a Slytherin? Sure. If anyone has a problem with it I'll curse them. **  
_  
Lia, I'm not sure that is the right way to go about these things. _  
**  
Joke, Harry. Just tell me that time and place and I'll be there. Anyway, what was that business about my wand this morning? Why didn't George give it to me himself?**

_Cause he was "too busy"? I think it's because he's got a crush on you though. Why did he have it in the first place?___

Lia?

Hello? 

Lia scrunched up the last three messages from Harry. All she wanted to do was forget that stupid kiss.

_Dear Remus  
Tell a certain father he can ask me how I am himself. If he hasn't accepted that I'm a Slytherin by now, he must have a screw loose in his head. I just…wish he'd stop being so stupid. Can't he see he's behaving exactly like his family did?  
Pretty much everyone still hates me here, but I'm a big girl, I can handle it.  
Lia._

Ophelia made her way up to the owlery at break time with a letter for Remus. She was still fuming at the fact that George gave away her wand to about a million people. Never mind the fact that it was her only protection and without it she felt incredibly vulnerable! Instead of giving it to her straight away he had to hand it down like a bloody game of pass the parcel!  
Making her way up the stairs, Lia was so engrossed by her anger that did not notice another person's footsteps behind her own. It was only when she felt the sharp point of a wand to her back that she snapped back to reality. Her hand went quickly to her pocket.

"Hold it there Black. Wouldn't want to do anything rash, would we?"

"Shove it Malfoy. Unless you want that wand sticking up where the sun sure as hell doesn't shine."

"Hold it there dear cousin. I've got something I want to say to you first." Malfoy drawled, pushing his wand further into Lia's back. Lia rolled her eyes. What an amateur. In a flash, she'd extracted her wand, spun around, and dug her own into Malfoy's chest.

"If you're going to ambush the best, you snivelling little rodent, I suggest you practice first." She sneered into his arrogant face.

"Oh and you think you're the best do you?" He practically spat back at her, raising his wand higher.

"Yeah I do, and I think that if you want to go back to pug face with all your body parts attached where they should be, lower your wand."

Malfoy laughed. "You think you can beat me?"

Lia sighed. This kid was really doing her head in. She just wanted to send her letter in peace. "Yeah I do. EVERTE STATUM!" She flicked her wand and Malfoy was sent hurtling backwards. "Impedimedia!" Malfoy stopped falling in mid-air moments before he would have hit the stone steps. "Now well you're just hanging around let me make a few things clear" Lia snarled into his frozen face. "You have no hold over me, okay? I do what I want, I say what I want, I go where I want, and nothing you can do to me will change that. So get off your high horse Malfoy, cause you're just a measly little school kid to me. And don't call me cousin. I don't need reminding I'm related to scum like you."

And with that, Lia promptly turned around, and carried on her way to the owlery, not bothering to release the spell on Malfoy. Someone else would come across him…eventually.

Reaching the owlery, she went to find a school owl to send her letter. This had proven difficult last time. She didn't know why, but the birds just seemed to hate her. She went over to a small looking brown owl.

"C'mere birdie… I just want to send this lette- Argh!" She shielded her hands in front of her face as the bird flew at her, before flying out of the window.

"Stupid animal!" Lia exclaimed angrily.

"Want a hand?" A familiar voice sounded from the doorway.

"I can manage, thanks." Lia muttered through clenched teeth.

"It doesn't look like it" George replied. And it was true, Lia was currently grabbing at the birds as they flew away from her. She sighed angrily.

"Here you bloody go then!" She shouted, thrusting the letter at him. He took it slowly.

"You're not going to hit me again are you?" He asked, smirking. Lia clenched her hands into fists.

"I might."

"Why are you so angry at me? We seemed to be getting along just fine last night," he said, and Lia's heart fluttered at the smirk on his face.

"You're the one who bloody ignored me this morning? Aren't you forgetting? I'm a Slytherin!" She said, sarcastically. "Aren't I supposed to hate everyone just for no reason?"

George's eyes went to the badge on her robes, and he seemed to falter slightly.

"Just forget about that for a moment okay?" He said with new bravado. "Look, I felt something when I kissed you. Just stop being such a bitch and give me a chance!" He approached her as he said it and now they were so close their noses could be touching.

Lia sighed and looked down. "It clearly bothers you, or you would talk to me in public rather than just when we're alone. It bothers you George so no, I'm not going to 'just forget about it'! I'm a Slytherin okay, and that's never going to change. I thought I made that clear last night. I can't change that I used to be a criminal, I can't change that yeah, sometimes I enjoy duelling people, I can't change that I'm a 'bitch', or so you say." Lia leant forward and did something neither of them expected, she kissed him harshly on the lips. Closing her eyes, she savoured the moment. When she pulled away, George was looking at her in a way she couldn't describe.

"Just let me know when you've finally accepted who I really am, okay?"

And with that, Lia walked out of the Owlery, even more confused than when she went in there. She passed Harry in the corridor, who looked concernedly at her.

"You okay Lia?" He asked.

"Oh piss off Potter!"


	9. Chapter 9

Meet us at the Hogs Head on the first Hogsmeade trip. The note had said.  
At first Ophelia was surprised Hermione had chosen such a dodgy place to discuss their 'study group'. But here she was, sat inside the pub, nursing a fire whiskey and waiting for the Gryffindor trio.

After Harry had asked for her help during their defence lesson, the topic had not come up for two weeks. Until a couple of days ago, when the owl had come to her during breakfast. Thankfully, Tracey had stayed in the dorm when Ophelia went down to the great hall that morning. Somehow, she didn't want to involve the other Slytherin with this.

"Why's she here?" Ron's voice made her look up. She scowled. Since she had been sorted into Slytherin, the red-head had all but ignored, showing his distaste whenever she was near.

"Harry asked for my help you twat." Lia replied, raising her eyebrows at him. "And since I know more magic than your bigoted little brain could possibly handle, I think you need it."

Harry chuckled at Lia's response. "Chill out Ron, we could use her help."

Ron slumped into the seat opposite Ophelia. "Fine. But don't blame me when she runs off to her little snake friends and screws us over".

"In case you haven't noticed, the rest of that slimy house despises me Ronald." Lia retorted, resorting to using his full name, which he hated. "And believe me; you're far down on my list of people that I want to screw".

"Now that's a list I'd like to see." A voice from behind Ophelia whispered. She whipped round and found herself again uncomfortably close to no other than George Weasley.  
Doesn't he understand the concept of personal space? She cursed in her head. George hadn't spoken to her since she'd (stupidly, she reminded herself) kissed him in the owlrey. Sometimes in the Great Hall she'd catch him glancing at her, but he always looked away when she looked up.

_Guess he can't get over the stupid green badge on my robes_. Ophelia cursed the stupid house system, and the idiots that had come up with it. Her life would be so much easier without it.

"What are you doing here?" She asked him with disdain.

"We're here for the meeting" George replied, looking down at her with amusement. He still hadn't moved away from her. She was going slightly breathless with the closeness.

_Stop it Ophelia Lily Williams! _

She moved back and looked behind George to see a large group of people at the bar. There must have been about thirty students there. She recognised Ginny, Fred, and the dippy girl Luna, but the rest were strangers. And not one of them was another Slytherin.

Lia turned around angrily to face Harry.  
"You failed to mention this many people were coming!" She hissed at him, staring him down.

"I didn't know either!" He replied, looking genuinely pissed off. "Hermione and Ron were organising that." They both looked sheepishly back at him.

"Well a lot of people were interested" Hermione replied vaguely, looking like she hadn't expected this many people either.

Harry sat in a stony silence, glaring at Hermione.

_This kid definitely has anger issues_. Ophelia mused._ But for once I am on his side._

"They've just come to hear what you two have got to say" Hermione said in an annoyingly patronising voice.

"Yeah, they're really gonna listen to me and Harry, He's a teenage delinquent and I'm in Slytherin." Lia said sarcastically. George looked on with curiosity. "I'm out of here before I do something I regret."

Hermione grabber her arm as she tried to stand up. "Just wait, please." The Gryffindor looked at Ophelia with such pleading eyes that Lia just sat down again.

By this time the group of students had gathered around, pulling up chairs and settling into a quiet hush. A few of them were giving her confused looks, quite a few more, dirty ones, Lia noticed.

Trapped in the Lion's den.

"Erm, Hi!" Hermione squeaked.

_Oh darling, never going into a public speaking career._ Lia thought.

"Well, you know why we're all here" Hermione continued. "I erm, had the idea that it would be good if we got together and studied Defence. I mean, practical defence using our wands, since Umbridge isn't going to teach us, we need to do it ourselves."

"Just a coincidence this is your OWL year then?" A boy from the back shouted out to her.

Lia rolled her eyes, was all everyone thought about in this school exams?

"That doesn't matter." Hermionie replied. Ophelia looked up in mock shock. "The main reason is, Harry's telling the truth. Voldemort really is back."

Lia laughed inwardly at the group's reaction to hearing the name. One Ravenclaw even split her drink all down herself.

"Excuse me but where's the proof in that?" An ugly boy retorted, looking at Hermione. "All we got told Diggory got killed by You-Know-Who and that _he _brought the body back. I think we'd all like to know-"  
Lia glanced at Harry who looked visibly angry.

"I'm not going to talk about Cedric Diggory. So if that's what you're here for you can sod off." He stated, glaring at Hermione.  
Lia had an idea. She raised her hand, smirking slightly at Harry's confused reaction. Lia was not one for waiting for permission to speak.

"Err, yes Lia?"

"A little birdy told me you can produce a patronus. Is it true?" She asked steadily, smirking at him.

"Yeah…" He asked, not realising what she was trying to achieve.  
The group gasped audibly. Easily impressed. She thought.

For the next couple of minutes the group were asking Potter the truth about certain rumours. Lia has to say, she was pretty impressed. Who knew this scrawny speckled boy could have killed a basilisk, won the triwizard tournament, fought off a group of dementors and not let it go to his head? She looked at Harry with a little more respected, and he flashed a quick smile at her, thankful for the conversation change.

"So we're all agreed that Harry's going to be our teacher?" Hermione asked the group, who agreed as a whole.

"No, wait" Harry said. "Yeah it's true I did all that stuff, but there's someone here who knows a lot more about Defence than me, and I want her to teach you, too". He looked at Ophelia, who glared back at him shaking her head slightly. _Don't do this now Potter. I said I'd help you, I didn't say I'd teach these idiots _  
"Ophelia Williams." He finished, smiling at her uncomfortable face.  
Again, the group reacted as a whole. Negatively.

"HER?"

"Doesn't he know she's a Slytherin?"

"Why would we let her teach us anything?" The same ugly boy that had angered Harry shouted above the others.  
Lia couldn't take this. She stood up angrily.

"Why should you let me? LET me?" She retorted. "I don't even want to teach you poxy school brats. I'm only here because a friend asked for my help. But let me tell you something. For the past five years while you've been safely tucked up by Dumbledore, I've been out there, in the real world, learning stuff by myself, learning stuff you wouldn't even dream of doing. I know what it's like to have to fight off Dark Wizards, I know how to defend myself both with magic and muggle style, and in situations where you'd run off and tell a teacher, I can fight back. Now you tell me why I should LET YOU learn this stuff from me."

She sat down in a huff. The room was silent. Even the barman was staring at her. George was looking at her with a strange look on his face. Lia suddenly became embarrassed.

"Enough of this, I'm out of here." She grabbed her bag and stormed out of the pub.  
Why had she lost her temper like that? Not only had she made herself look an idiot, she had also blown her cover story. Might as well start calling myself Ophelia Lily Black. She cursed. She sighed.

All she wanted was to get out of this school, out of this village, out of bloody Scotland! She turned on the spot and disapparated.

Remus Lupin was sat in the kitchen of Grimmauld Place, exhausted. This month's full moon had been a difficult one.  
It was easier, yes, now that the Wolfsbane potion was available to him, but it didn't make the pain go away. Sirius had offered to stay with him, as Padfoot, but Remus refused.

Those days were behind them both.

He sighed, wondering when Sirius would stop being stubborn and talk to his daughter. They were so much alike. Slytherin house shouldn't come in the way of that.  
He hadn't let it get in the way of bonding with his God-daughter.

He was contemplating this when he heard the front door bang. He stood up, grabbing his wand. Sirius was upstairs with Buckbeak, he wouldn't have heard the noise. It was just him and the intruder.

Edging quietly to the hallway, he saw the figure approaching. He acted fast.

"STUPEFY!"

The intruder didn't miss a beat, and conjured a very strong shield charm.  
So strong in fact, that Remus' spell rebounded and hit him.

Sirius had come running down the stairs, wand outstretched, coming up on the intruder from behind. The figure turned round and punched him square on the jaw, before realising who it was.

"Fuck." Ophelia said.

"Is he going to be ok?"

"Is he going to be ok? What about me?" Sirius replied angrily.

"Oh get over it Sirius, he's worse off than you. He got hit with his own stunner." Lia replied.

After the initial shock of realising that it was her father she had punched in the face, Lia acted quickly and levitated Remus' unconscious body through the sitting room, where she laid him on a sofa.

"Can I ask what you are doing here?" Sirius asked, getting over the initial shock that his best friend had managed to knock himself out.

"Hogsmeade weekend." Lia said. "And Hogsmeade blows."  
Sirius smiled slightly.

"Plus I might have blown my cover story."

"WHAT?" Sirius shouted.

This made Remus's eyes fluttered open. "Why are you shouting?"

Lia ignored her father and turned to the man lying on the sofa. "Remus, are you ok? I'm so so sorry!"

"I'll be fine, but can I ask why you're not in school?"

Lia frowned. "It's a Hogsmeade trip. I'll go back before they miss me, don't worry."

"That's beside the point. You can't just go wandering off from school like that, it isn't safe."

Sirius looked strangely at his friend's concerned behaviour. Why was he acting so parental?

"Forget about that for now. What do you mean you've blown your cover Ophelia?"

"You've WHAT?" Remus was the one shouting now.

"Will you just calm down! It's not that bad. I just got mad at this guy saying he didn't want me to teach him defence, and ended up shouting some things at him. Might have let slip that my home-schooled story isn't exactly true" Lia blurted out, looking slightly guilty.

"What are you on about teaching defence?" Sirius replied, looking extremely confused

.  
Lia sighed. Harry was going to kill her for not keeping the secret. She told her father and Lupin the story from the start, how Umbridge was not teaching them anything, and how Hermione had the idea of a secret defence club, and Harry had asked for her help. And how that stupid boy had offended her.

"He just bruised my ego is all." Lia finished.

"So let me get this straight." Sirius said. "You're helping Harry teach a bunch of kids defence so you can prepare yourself for the war against Voldemort?"

"Yes."

"Even though it's probably against school rules, and you'll get in a lot of trouble if Umbridge finds out?"

"Yes."

Sirius let out a bark of laughter, and grabbed Ophelia in the tightest hug she had ever received.

"Wait, what?" Ophelia asked, pulling herself away.

"I'm so proud of you!" Sirius replied, smiling at her. "This is the exact sort of thing me or your mother would have done."

Lia glared angrily.  
"Aren't you forgetting that no daughter of yours or my mum's could have been a Slytherin?

Sirius paled slightly. "Ophelia, I'm sorry. I was angry. All my family have been in Slytherin, and practically all of them have turned out to be dark wizards. I was afraid you were going to turn out like them."

"Well I'm not! I hate the dark arts just as much as you do. Anyone could tell you that. Remus could have told you that!" Lia replied spitefully. "He's been more of a father to me than you have."

Sirius looked at Lia with sad eyes, and walked out the room.

Lia's stomach dropped. "Too far?" She asked Remus, who had watched the whole affair with worried eyes.

"Maybe. He's really trying Lia."

Ophelia scoffed. "Trying? I'm sorry but when has that man ever been a father to me? He walked out on me when I was a toddler because avenging Harry's parents was more important to him than keeping his family safe. Running off to kill Pettigrew with absolutely no concern about the implications it would have on me. And here we are fourteen years later, and now he's angry at me for how I've turned out when it's his entire fault anyway. Not speaking to me because of what stupid house I've been sorted into, and now I'm doing something he actually likes, flipping 180 degrees on me! How dare he talk about my mother? If I haven't turned out like him or like her it's his entire fault. Thanks to him I had no parent's growing up. He might not have held the wand, but as far as I'm concerned, he killed her." Lia ranted, angrily. She'd had it with Sirius' behaviour.

Remus stood up angrily. "Don't you dare say that."

Lia looked up. "What, it's true."

"Yeah and don't you think he knows that? Do you not think that every time he looks at you he's reminded of that night? Where he lost his best friends, his wife, and his freedom? Of course he's conflicted. Give him a break, Ophelia." Remus shouted at the girl.

Lia looked up, hurt. She'd never been shouted at like that before. She followed in her father's footsteps, out the door, and then she walked out of the house.

George sighed deeply. He couldn't sleep. Thoughts about the day's events kept rushing through his mind. He had been genuinely surprised when he saw Lia at the meeting in the Hog's Head, and even more so when Harry announced that she would be helping him teach them the spells.

He wasn't surprised however when she shouted at the boy from Hufflepuff when he had offended her.  
She was the type of person who never took crap from anyone. After she'd left the meeting finished quickly, all of them signing the parchment Hermione had brought. He'd tried to find her afterward, but no one had seen her. She didn't even come to the Great Hall at dinner.

He rolled over in his bed. Sounds of the rest of his dorm mates sleeping deeply surrounded the room, accompanied by Fred's loud snoring. Then, he heard something that sounded like padded footsteps. He sat up slowly. Everyone was asleep weren't they? He opened the curtains around his bed slowly.

He was definitely surprised to see a pair of grey eyes staring back at him.

"Hiya." Ophelia simply said. The smell of fire whisky was evident on her breath.

"Lia, what the HELL are you doing in my dorm?" he whispered in hushed breath. "If anyone sees you in Gryffindor tower you'll be in so much trouble."

"I like trouble." She replied, giggling. "C'mon it's me. Breaking in here was a piece of cake."

"Let me ask again, what are you doing in here?" George repeated. Lia simply threw back the curtains and climbed into his bed. "Ophelia what are you doing?"

"In case you haven't realised I've had a bad day. I wanted to see you." She pouted.

George's mind was racing. Here she was, in his bed. He wasn't ashamed to say he'd dreamed of this moment. She'd been so angry at him the last time they'd been alone together. He still remembered that kiss. He'd meant to run after her and say, no he didn't care she was a Slytherin, whisk her off her feet and carry her up to this very bed. But he was a coward and he didn't. Yet here she was.  
He sighed again, happily this time.

"What happened?" He asked, gently brushing the hair off her face. She'd been crying.

"Stop it with the sentimental bullshit, ok?" Lia said, slapping his hand away. "I don't want to talk."

And then she did something that George did not expect. Lia moved towards him and kissed him hungrily. He found himself kissing her back, enveloping her body with his arms. She bit his lip, and moved her hands to his tee-shirt, lifting it over his head. George kissed her again as soon as it was off, and soon her top met the same fate. They never stopped kissing, and soon all their clothes found their way to the floor. George knew he should stop but he couldn't. As if she noticed his hesitation Ophelia stopped kissing him too look at him and say the words, "I want this."

George had her approval, and he grabbed her and kissed her again.

The sun was bright. Why was the sun in the dungeons? Ophelia opened her eyes groggily. Her head was pounding. Why were her bed sheets red all of a sudden? And why exactly did she have no clothes on? She slowly took in her surroundings. This wasn't her dorm in Slytherin house. She looked next to her to see a sleeping George Weasley. The memories of last night came rushing back to her.

"Oh crap." She muttered.


	10. Chapter 10

Ophelia couldn't believe the scale of which she could mess things up. Within the space of about twelve hours she had managed to first blow her 'home-schooled' cover, punch her father in the face and screw up any chance of reconciliation with him, and made her only friend astronomically pissed off with her.

Oh, and she'd slept with George Weasley.

_That's it; I'm never drinking fire whiskey again. _

Actually, she had plans to never leave the Slytherin dorms again.

In the early hours of Sunday morning, while George, and thankfully, the rest of his dorm mates were still sleeping, she'd snuck out; leaving nothing that might allude to her presence there. Ophelia had run all the way to Slytherin common room, and stayed there for the rest of the day, feigning illness when Tracey had tried to talk to her.

And that lead her to Monday morning. She hated school. She would have to leave the relative safety of Slytherin dorm and run the risk of bumping into George.

Despite herself Ophelia snorted with laughter. She couldn't believe she'd rather stay in the dorm with Pug-Face Parkinson than leave and maybe see George. The thought sobered her up a little.

_Get a grip Ophelia. You're afraid of a schoolboy._

The thought of what the locals at the Leaky Caldron would say if they could see her now was enough to make her get out of bed, and get ready for the day ahead. She had already stewed in bed long enough to miss breakfast, so she decided to head straight to History of Magic, a class she shared with Harry, Ron and Hermione.

"Feeling better Phee?" Tracey's voice sounded as Ophelia walked into the common room.

"Yeah, thanks" Ophelia said back. A part of her knew she and Tracey would never become close friends, but it was nice to have a friendly face in Slytherin house, as the rest of them were still following Malfoy's lead. "You got class?"

Tracey laughed. "Some of us weren't stupid enough to take History of Magic. I've got a free period; I'll see you in Potions."

"See you later," Lia called, walking out of the common room door.

The corridors of the castle were oddly deserted. Halfway to her classroom Ophelia realised with annoyance that she was more than likely very late.

_At least I won't bump into George_. She thought. Ironically, right before she bumped into someone walking very fast round the corner.

"Watch where the hell you're going!" She hissed angrily, only to soften when she saw who it was. "What on earth are you doing Potter? And why've you got an owl on your shoulder?"

Harry did indeed have a snowy white owl sitting on his shoulder with a parchment tied to its leg.

"She turned up outside the classroom. I think she's hurt…I don't know what to do, Hagrid's not around to take her to him" Harry looked very worried about his pet, and Ophelia found herself feeling sorry for him.

"C'mon, we'll go to that Grubbly-Plank woman, she'll know what to do." She said, smiling at him slightly. She remembered with a jolt that she had left him to deal with the aftermath of her rant in the Hogs Head at the weekend, and felt a pang of guilt.

_Harry didn't want to be there either_. She reminded herself.

"Listen, sorry about walking out the other day. That boy really just got to me." She blurted out after a few minutes of walking together in silence. Harry looked at her with sympathy.

"It's ok, he got to me too. Where did you go? We were looking for you all over the village." Harry replied, glancing at Ophelia curiously. "Fred and George were worried about you too. Well, mostly just George."

Lia ignored this piece of information and told him the story of her trip to Grimmauld Place, including her argument with Remus, in brief. She didn't really want Harry knowing the details or the fact she craved a paternal relationship from Sirius. She was still slightly jealous of how close Harry and Sirius were, and she wasn't going to let on to that.

"…and I'm really sorry for telling them about our secret meeting. I don't think they're going to stop us, or anything. I mean at least Ron's mum wasn't there, she'd go spare."

Harry laughed. "It's ok. I mean, they were probably going to find out soon enough anyway. I mean we think Umbridge already does. Haven't you seen the new 'Educational Decree?'?"

Lia scoffed, "No, but I bet it's something like 'All student groups and organisations are hereby disbanded."

Harry's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Word for word actually. Naturally we're going to do it anyway."

"Good. I would have thought less of you if you were going to let something as silly as a school rule stop you. So this is the staff room?"

They had come to a stop.

"Yeah, now we just have to get in." Harry said looking at annoyance at two stone gargoyles that were guarding the entrance. Ophelia jumped slightly as they sprang to life.

"What are you two doing out of class?" One of them asked in a gravelly voice.

"None of your business"

"It's urgent"

Ophelia and Harry both answered at the same time. Harry rolled his eyes and knocked on the door as both gargoyles laughed to themselves. The door opened and the Slytherin and Gryffindor found themselves face to face with McGonagall.

"What are you doing out of class?" She asked angrily, echoing the gargoyle.

"I'm looking for Professor Grubbly-Plank," said Harry. "And Ophelia offered to come with me. It's my owl, she's hurt."

Ophelia shot Harry an appreciative look. No doubt she would have got detention from the Gryffindor Head if she knew Lia hadn't even got to class in the first place.

"Injured owl?" The voice of the Care of Magical Creatures Professor sounded out from behind McGonagall. Ophelia watched as Harry explained the owl's injury to Grubbly-Plank, who then began to walk away with it on her arm.

"Just a minute- Potter hasn't got his letter!" McGonagall called quickly after her. Harry moved to get the parchment from his owl's leg, and Grubbly-Plank continued on her way.

McGonagall looked at Harry with concerned eyes. "How far has this owl travelled Potter?"

Harry looked up in confusion. "From London I think…"

Ophelia raised her eyebrows. What could Sirius want with Harry so urgently? She felt a twinge of jealousy hit her again.

"Bear in mind, that channels of communication in Hogwarts may be being watched." McGonagall was saying to Harry, as the bell rang and the corridors became flooded with students.

Ophelia grabbed Harry by the arm. "C'mon we've got potions now," she said as she dragged him to a deserted stairwell. As soon as they were out of earshot from the other students she rounded on him.

"What does it say?" She hissed at Harry. He looked confused as he opened the parchment.

"Same time, same place." He said, showing it to her.

"What does that mean?"

Harry looked sheepish. "Sometimes, Sirius uses the Floo network to talk to us. I guess he means he wants to talk again tonight."

Anger flushed through Ophelia. All her frustrations from the past twenty-four hours had been bubbling on the surface, and it hadn't taken much for them to spill out. How could Harry and Sirius be so idiotic? The Floo Network was incredibly easy to trace.

"Do you want Sirius back in Azkaban?" She all but shouted at him.

Harry looked at her with annoyance. "What is that supposed to mean? Of course I don't!"

"Yeah well if you keep up with these little fire chats, he soon will be. Umbridge is already on to you, who you suppose intercepted your owl?" She replied, poking him in the chest.

This action seemed to enrage Harry. "I'm not _stupid_ Ophelia. No one is going to understand what it's supposed to mean!"

"Yeah well you'd better hope not, Potter. I'm not losing my father again because of your stupidity." She growled. "If he turns up tonight, you tell him to sod off straight away, yeah? If anything happens, well, there's a reason I'm in Slytherin house."

And with that warning she turned away and stormed off. What was wrong with Sirius? Using the Floo network to get straight to Gryffindor Tower was a sure fire way to get captured. Why was Harry letting him do it? Ophelia ran to the owlery with the intention of writing to Remus and telling him to stop Sirius from whatever he was going to do tonight.

She suddenly stopped halfway up a flight of stairs. How could she be so idiotic? Since September she had been writing to Remus Lupin, a known member of the Order of the Phoenix. Mentioning Sirius Black, wanted escaped convict on several occasions.

How long would it take for the rumours about her outburst in the Hogs Head to reach the ears of Umbridge? And then, Umbridge would no doubt take it upon herself to look into the past of "Ophelia Williams". Or even talk to some of her housemates about it. Maybe even a certain Draco Malfoy, who knew who she really was.

Dumbledore had tried to warn her. Ophelia wished she had heeded his caution. Now she couldn't write to Grimmauld Place to advise Sirius not to contact Hogwarts.

_Or even write and apologise for the things she said_, she realised, her heart sinking.

After an excruciating long day of classes, two of which Ophelia spent observing Umbridge, to see if she gave away any clues of how much she knew ("Why are you staring at Umbridge so much?"), glaring at Potter, ("Ok, now what has scar-head done to offend you?"), and elbowing Tracey in the side for whispering questions at her every five minutes ("Merlin Phee, that hurt!") Lia stalked off to the Great Hall for dinner.

Tracey had a detention with Professor Sprout; apparently she had been focusing too hard on her partner and not hard enough on the mandrake she was re-potting, causing half the class to pass out for about half an hour, so Ophelia was alone for the rest of the night.

She sat in her usual spot at the end of the Slytherin table, too engrossed in her own thoughts to notice the rest of the school around her. She had realised halfway through potions that she would not be able to contact either Remus or Sirius from now on. Her best hope was to wait for the next Hogsmeade trip and visit them in person. And Sirius had finally been talking to her. She hoped Harry would be clever enough to realise the importance of her concerns. She had half a mind to ask him the time of his meeting with her father so she could explain herself to him. But after their argument this afternoon the only contact she and Harry had were dirty looks to each other.

She sighed as she stabbed a piece of cake with her fork. Remus, Sirius, and now Harry. Was there anyone in the Wizarding World left who actually wanted anything to do with her?

"What the-" Ophelia muttered as a piece of rolled up parchment hit her on the side of the head. She uncurled it.

_Same place tonight? G._

Well, maybe there was one person who wanted _something _to do with her.

Sneaking into the Gryffindor Tower was too easy. Ophelia had disillusioned herself, a spell she had become quite proficient at over the years, and slipped in past a group of third years. She made her way to the Seventh Year Boy's dorm, and slipped behind the curtains of an all too familiar bed.

"I didn't think you'd come" George said, grinning at her.

Ophelia rolled her eyes. "Yeah well luckily for you I've had a worse day than yesterday. What did you do to your brother and his mate?" As she noticed the dorm was empty apart from them.

"They've both got detention with Snape tonight." George replied, not taking his eyes off Ophelia's. "Listen, I asked you here because I think we need to talk about what happened last night."

Ophelia felt butterflies in her stomach and hid the sensation by rolling her eyes. "George, your seventeen, do I really need to explain about the birds and the bees?"

George smiled half-heartedly. Ophelia's stomach dropped a little when she saw the expression on his face. "What is it?" She asked, slightly annoyed. Was it possible to get dumped when you weren't even dating the guy?

"I just want to say first of all I'm sorry. You were drunk, and I took advantage of that, and I shouldn't have."

"Seriously George, don't feel bad about that. I believe it was my fault. Bit of a weird thing to say when you invited me to your bed today though, but go on?" Ophelia said, wanting to get this conversation over with, if it was what she suspected.

George paused for a moment. "I've been thinking about what you said that day in the Owlery, when you kissed me…and, I think I can deal with it now. It sounds so childish; do you think we could make this work?"

Ophelia sighed. "I can't." She said, looking at George with sad eyes.

"But, I thought that was what you wanted. What you said to me in the owlery, and last night…" He trailed off, looking down.

"Listen you dolt." Ophelia replied, grabbing his hand. "I didn't say it's not what I want. I said I can't."

George looked extremely confused. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, I realised today I can't have anyone thinking that I'm anything other than an ordinary Slytherin. Especially any toad faced ministry employees, not to mention the junior death eaters in my house. As soon as they or Umbridge start to take special interest in me, I put Sirius and the rest of the Order at risk. And a Weasley twin going out with the Slytherin everyone hates? That's going to attract the wrong sort of attention for me, especially in my house." Ophelia said, looking sadly at George as she said it.

"So what, nothing can happen between us?" George asked, looking away from Lia's face as he said it.

Ophelia's stomach dropped. "Not _nothing._ Just. Nothing that anyone could find out about…" She trailed off.

"So… you _do _want me?" George said, waggling his eyebrows at her. Ophelia scoffed and hit him over the back of the head.

"Enough of the ego, Weasley."

"Well, I knew it had to be true, why else would you sneak all the way into Gryffindor territory, twice, I may add." He bragged, lying back down on his bed.

"Well why else would you have invited me here?" Ophelia retorted moving closer to him. "Other than to confess your true romantic feelings for me?"

George laughed and pulled Ophelia underneath him.

"Why else indeed."

"Better to be expelled and know how to defend yourselves than sitting in school without a clue" Sirius was saying to the three Gryffindor's before him.

"Here He-" Ron and Harry started to say before Hermione silenced them.

"Shhh! I think I can hear footsteps"

The four dropped silent as a figure came into view from the boys' staircase.

"Ophelia!" Hermione whispered. "What are you doing in our common room?"

"More importantly" Sirius said, recognising the girl as his daughter. "What are you doing in the boys dormitories?"

Ophelia looked at the scene in front of her. She had left George sleeping before his dorm mates came back, and their encounter had pushed all thoughts of Sirius and Harry's meeting out of her head. She had been genuinely surprised when she'd heard her father's voice from the staircase.

So Harry hadn't listened to her. She sought him out and shot him an angry glare as she moved to sit in front of the fire place.

"I was hiding in the stairwell till you arrived so I could talk to you" She lied, whispering in a hushed voice. "Sirius, you have to leave, Harry's owl got intercepted and you could get caught any second. And I don't want to see you back in Azkaban."

Sirius anger at his daughter softened as he heard the last part. "Don't worry about me Lia, I'm not about to get caught. And I wanted to say I'm sorry about the other day."

"Me too" Ophelia replied. "I didn't mean to say what I said. Can you tell Remus that too-?"

Her sentence was cut short as Sirius' head suddenly vanished. Harry, Ron and Hermione all looked at her in confusion.

"Why did he-?" Harry began, just as Hermione let out a horrified gasp, pointing at the fireplace.

A stubby fingered hand had appeared where Sirius head had been. A stubby fingered hand covered in ugly rings.

Ophelia needed no more information than that.

"Run!" She hissed; as she legged it out of their common room, not looking back to see if they had followed her command. She didn't look back all the way to her own dormitory, where she lay in bed awake all night, terrified.


	11. Chapter 11

"I'm not going to say I told you so – actually screw it, I _told_ you Umbridge was reading your mail."

Harry glared at Ophelia. They were in Charms class, and Ophelia had snuck up to the table he was sharing with Hermione and Ron in pretence of retrieving the bullfrog she was supposed to be silencing.

"Just leave it Ophelia, ok?" He replied, glaring again. "Hermione's already told me, I don't need to hear it again."

Ophelia gave him a death glare back, "Well apparently you do, since you didn't listen to me yesterday. If she'd caught him-"

"I _know_ Lia; he'd be back in Azkaban this morning." Harry replied, stabbing his wand in the direction of the bullfrog on his table. It started whistling like a kettle.

"Silencio," said Lia distractedly, silencing the frog. "Well he better not try it again. And for merlin's sake, don't try to write him to tell him that."

"He's not that stupid, he won't risk it again!" Ron interjected. "Silencio!"

The raven he was trying to silence cawed loudly. Ophelia scoffed.

"Oh leave it out, it's a hard spell"

Ophelia responded by Silencing Ron, and walking back to the table she was sharing with Tracey and unfortunately, Pansy Parkinson and Daphne Greengrass. Daphne wasn't quite as vile as Parkinson, but still looked down on Ophelia, giving her looks that would normally be saved for dragon dung. Needless to say, Ophelia didn't like her.

"You seemed chatty with that lot Trace muttered, "Not going all Gryffindor on me now are you?"

Pansy's eyes lit up upon overhearing this. "I wouldn't be surprised if she was shagging Weasley. Poor people need to stick together, y'know." She sneered.

_Oh, if only you knew._ Ophelia thought, remembering the previous night with George.

"Shove off Pug face." Ophelia shot back, and Greengrass actually laughed. Pansy glared at her and stalked off to Malfoy's table, where she draped herself over him like a simpering idiot.

Ophelia gave Greengrass an inquiring look.

"That was funny." Was all the other girl said, before getting back to her work.

Ophelia rolled her eyes and focused her attention back on Tracey.

"The idiot wouldn't give me back my bullfrog. Thought I was trying to steal his. Like I'd want to steal a sodding _frog._" She gave as an explanation.

"What an idiot!" Tracey replied.

"Yeah," Ophelia repeated, glaring at Harry again. "An absolute idiot."

Later that day, after dinner Lia was walking to the library. As much as she hated herself for it, she needed to finish her homework. When she'd started Hogwarts, she'd dismissed the essays her teachers had set them, and hadn't bothered. After a particularly horrible detention from Snape cleaning cauldron bottoms without magic, she'd decided it would be easier to finish the work, no matter how mind numbing it was.

She'd found the library the easiest place to get the work done, without the presence of Malfoy and Parkinson in the Slytherin common room and dorms.

Ophelia was walking past a slightly ajar closet when a pair of arms enclosed around her and dragged her into the darkness.

"You know you don't need to kidnap me when you want a snog, George."

The arms around her dropped and spun her around to face him.

"How'd you know it was me?" He said annoyance evident in his voice.

"Now that'd be telling. _Lumos"_ Ophelia muttered.

She looked up at George and sniggered. She couldn't help it. His red hair was plastered to his skull with water, and his face was streaked with mud, as were his Quidditch robes. Which were dripping with rain.

"You look like you've had a good practice." She snorted, "You look-"

George cut Ophelia off with a swift kiss on the lips. She didn't complain, and returned it. George responded by deepening the kiss, and Ophelia bit his lip playfully.

"Kinky." He muttered, breaking the kiss for a brief moment.

"So, in a broom closet George? How cliché can you get?" Ophelia said after a few more minutes of kissing him.

George rolled his eyes. "Is that all you think about? I just wanted to kiss you! And as for the closet, keeping it secret was _your_ idea."

Ophelia grinned at George's grumpiness. "Bad Quidditch practice then?"

"You don't want to know. Now shut up and kiss me again." He replied, leaning in to capture her lips with his again. Ophelia let him get his way for a few more minutes then grinned against his lips.

"You know if you _really_ wanted a stress release…"

George stopped kissing her again. "Ophelia, please. Not tonight, ok?"

Ophelia stepped back from him. "Alright, what's got your knickers in a twist?"

George spluttered. "What?"

Ophelia rolled her eyes. "George, I can tell something's up. Spill."

The Weasley twin sighed. "You know those snack boxes me and Fred are developing?"

"I am aware of them, yes?"

"Well, we tested the Fever Fudge this morning and…well…it's had some _unpleasant_ side effects."

Ophelia couldn't help herself. She sniggered again. George glared at her.

"Sorry," She said, looking up at his mardy face. "_Sorry."_ She reiterated, leaning up to kiss him on the cheek. "What are they? I might be able to help."

George looked down at the ground. "It's embarrassing."

"George, it might be something I can help with. I know a few healing spells."

"I'vegotboilsonmyarse." He muttered, still looking down

Ophelia's eyebrows burrowed in confusion. "You've got what?"

George left out a breath. "Boils."

"On your-"

"Arse, yes."

Ophelia blinked. "Oh."

George grimaced. "And after Quidditch they really bloody hurt. Throbbing like-"

Ophelia silenced him quickly. "Ok, ok, I don't need to know! So that's why you don't want to…" She trailed off, biting her lip and looking up at George.

"Pretty much, yeah. Sorry." He replied, enveloping Ophelia in a hug.

"It's ok, you idiot. Though I'm sorry to say I don't know any cures for boils. Maybe you should ask Pomfrey?"

George laughed. "Yeah right, I'll just walk into the hospital wing and flash her my behind should I?"

Ophelia winked, "She'll be a lucky woman."

George grinned. "You're in a good mood today, something amazing happen to you last night?"

Ophelia scoffed. "I'm going to ignore the innuendo there. But something did happen after I left yours last night…"

And she told him the story of Sirius' head in the fire.

"And now Potter's being all arsey with me this morning because he knows I was right." She finished.

"Oh he's a wily one, our Harry Potter." George responded. "Seriously though, Sirius won't try it again. He's lucky Umbridge didn't catch him."

"Yeah…" Ophelia said, absent mindedly.

George lifted her chin up and smiled at her. "It'll be ok. At least you sorted things out with him from the other day, hey?"

Ophelia had told him of her disastrous visit to Grimmauld Place.

"I guess." She smiled, and leaned up again to kiss him.

"As much as I want to stay in her and snog you senseless, Fred's going to wonder where I am in a minute." He said, tearing himself away from Lia.

"Twin senses are tingling?" Lia asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Something like that," George replied. "See you."

And he whisked quickly through the door, leaving Lia alone in the broom closet. She waited a few minutes before leaving herself.

Keeping things secret was kind of fun.

The next day, the rain was hammering down so hard on the castle Ophelia was surprised the windows didn't break. The storm raged around a misty black fog that reminded her of the presence of dementors. Lia shuddered, remembering the boggart attack in Grimmauld place. She averted her gaze from the window, and looked to the front of the classroom where Professor Grubbly Plank was explaining about the eating habits of Knarls.

"Now, as the similarities between Knarls and the common hedgehog are so many, we can expect them to have similar digestion to each other. However…"

Lia put her head down on the desk. When she'd looked up at the great hall ceiling this morning, she'd expected Care of Magical Creatures to be cancelled due to the bad weather. It was not. They'd moved into a ground floor classroom, and were now being treated to a _theory_ lesson.

Ophelia sighed with relief when the bell finally rang for lunch. She picked up her untouched quill and parchment, and stowed them away in her schoolbag. She was just wondering whether to go to lunch in the great hall, or finish her Potions essay when someone hissed her name.

"_Lia!"_

She looked round to see Harry Potter nudging his head to the left, signalling she should follow him. Ophelia sighed and stomped over to where he was stood round the corner.

"What now?" She muttered, looking at him with unimpressed eyes.

"We've found somewhere to have the first defence meeting." He replied, glancing round quickly. "Tonight."

Lia's eyebrows shot up. "Where?"

"On the seventh floor. Opposite that tapestry of Barmy Barnabus getting attacked by trolls."

"This school has a tapestry devoted to a troll attack? And I thought Grimmauld Place had unconventional decorations…" Lia mused.

Harry grinned. "So you'll be there?"

"Of course I will. You'll need someone who's actually half decent at defence right?" She smirked, raising an eyebrow at Harry.

"Oh shut up. You'll help me though, with the teaching bit?" He asked her, anxiously.

Ophelia rolled her eyes. "I said I would, didn't I? And I fancy putting that Smith idiot in his place. Know what you're doing yet?"

"Disarming Charm." Harry muttered, looking up at Lia for her approval.

"Back to the basics, good idea. How half the morons in this school manage to point their wands the right way round is beyond me."

Harry laughed. "Meet us there at half seven. The meeting starts at eight."

"Sure thing Professor Potter." Ophelia replied with a mock salute, before turning away.

"Hey Ophelia" Harry called out, stopping her. "Are we cool now?"

Lia scoffed. "Please Potter; you've never been cool in your life."

And she turned on her heel and walked away.

"So tell me again how you got detention with Grubbly Plank?"

Ophelia sighed, trying to remember the details of her cover as Tracey looked at her questioningly.

"I told you, I forgot to do the homework again."

Tracey looked at Ophelia like she didn't really believe her. Then she sighed and flopped back down onto her bed. The girls were enjoying some rare time when they had the dorm to themselves.

"Fair enough. What do you reckon she'll make you do?"

"Lines, hopefully. I don't very much fancy mucking out fire crabs, or whatever crazy animals she keeps in her office."

Tracey pulled a horrified face and Ophelia smirked.

"Better get going or you'll be late."

Lia looked at the clock at the side of Tracey's bedside table. It read 7:15.

"I suppose. Give Parkinson a hex for me when she comes up to bed?" She said, standing up.

"You know it."

The two Slytherins grinned at each other before Lia left the dorm. Luckily the common room was busy enough tonight that she could slip out without getting into a fight with her classmates like usual. Malfoy had it out for her ever since she hexed him on the stairs a few days ago, and she couldn't be bothered with a confrontation tonight.

She made her way up to the seventh floor and along the corridor to the tapestry Harry had described. There indeed, was Barabus the Barmy, attempting to train Trolls for the Ballet, and subsequently getting clubbed. Who made things like that?

She looked opposite the tapestry to see…

A stretch of wall.

Great. This had all been some practical joke Harry made up to get back at her for being right. And now she felt like a complete idiot for falling for it.

"Lia!" A voice that she recognised as Hermione's called out. "You found it ok?"

Ophelia glared at the three fifteen year olds approaching her.

"And what, exactly was I supposed to have found? There's nothing here!"

"You'll have to ask Harry that, we've got no idea either." Ron muttered.

Ophelia looked at Harry, who was examining a piece of old parchment with his wand.

"Filch is on the second floor, and Mrs Norris is on the fourth…" He was muttering under his breath.

"What are you doing? Is that a map?" Ophelia asked him, looking at the parchment that was adorned with moving black dots.

"Wha- oh yeah. Marauders Map. Our dads made it when they were at school together." Harry replied, moving it so Ophelia could see.

It was indeed, a map of the whole of Hogwarts, and the moving black dots were its inhabitants. Ophelia looked closer and could see the name "Ophelia Black" written next to a black dot labelled "Harry Potter."

She looked up at Harry in amazement. "This is awesome!"

"Never mind that now, I can't find Umbridge on here." Harry hissed at her, resuming his pursuit of the map.

"There she is." Ophelia pointed with her wand at the dot that was thankfully, stationary in her office.

"Right lets go then." Harry said, folding up the map to Ophelia's dismay, as she was still examining it. "Dobby said to walk past this bit of wall three times, concentrating hard on what we need."

"Dobby?" Questioned Lia, looking at Harry like he'd grown an extra head.

"House elf. That doesn't matter; we need to be ready before eight." Harry answered her. "Ok? Let's do it."

The four of them then started walking past the wall after initial hesitation.

_We need a room to do defensive magic in, so I and Harry can teach these dweebs how to really fight. Where no one else can find us… _

Ophelia's eyebrows were burrowed in concentration. Ron had his eyes screwed up, Hermione was whispering, and Harry's fists were clenched. After they'd walked past for the third time, Ophelia noticed that a large door had appeared.

"Guys!" she said, stopping in front of it.

Harry pushed his arm out and slowly turned the handle.

The room was huge, lit up by torches hanging from the walls, not unlike the ones in Ophelia's common room. There were large wooden bookcases lining the walls, Hermione's doing, Lia guessed. The floor was adorned with cushions and pillows, and Ophelia recognised Dark Detectors littering a shelf on the far end, including secrecy sensors and a foe glass.

Hermione squealed, and ran to the bookcase without further ado.

"Look at these books! There's everything we need here!" She exclaimed, looking around the room. "Wait, what?"

Hermione had stopped at a mysterious flask. She picked it up carefully and opened it as Harry, Ron and Ophelia watched cautiously. She sniffed.

"Fire whiskey…?" The Gryffindor's eyes first showed confusion, then annoyance. "Oh _Ophelia!_"

Ophelia grinned. "My bad." She said, just as a gentle knock sounded at the door.

The four looked around as Ginny and some other Gryffindor's from Harry's year entered. Ophelia was sure one of them was Neville from the train, but she had no idea of the other's names.

_I should really start paying attention in class more._ She thought.

It didn't take long for everyone else to arrive. When Fred and George came, accompanied by their friend Lee, George gave Ophelia a wink. She grinned, despite herself.

"Well you've obviously found the place ok!" Harry was saying to the group, and Ophelia turned her head round to face him. He looked awfully nervous.

"It's fantastic!" A raven haired girl said, flashing a winning smile at Harry.

"Remember when we hid from Filch in here George? It was just a broom cupboard then." Fred frowned, looking at his brother.

Ophelia's face burned at the mention of broom cupboards, remembering their encounter the previous night. She glanced at George, whose ears were poker red with embarrassment, and determinedly looked away again.

"Right, well I've been thinking about the stuff we should be doing first" Harry continued. Hermione raised her hand. Ophelia inwardly groaned. "What, Hermione?"

"We ought to elect a leader." Was all she said?

Ophelia thought this was a stupid notion. Anyone with half a brain in their head knew that Potter was running this show. But no, they eventually had to vote on it, in order to "make it formal".

Hermione interrupted Harry once more to suggest they come up with a name for the group. After a short discussion, they decided on "Dumbledore's Army," a name that Lia secretly liked.

When the name was decided Hermione pulled out a parchment with a group of signatures on it.

"Oh that reminds me, Ophelia, you still need to sign this!" She called out looking around the room for her.

Ophelia cursed Hermione under her breath as the attention in the room shifted to her, and she found herself the receiver of some very dirty looks. Probably remembering her outburst in Hogsmeade.

"Right, ok then." She walked over and took the quill from Hermione's outstretched hand and quickly signed "Ophelia Williams".

Keen to get the attention back onto Harry, she turned to him. "So, Disarming?" She said, spurring him on.

"Oh, right. Well, I was thinking we should start with the Disarming charm, you know _Expelliarmus?_ "Harry said to the group. It's basic but I think that-"

Zacharias Smith called out in a snotty voice. "Oh _please. _Like that's going to help us against You-know-who."

Ophelia's grip tightened around her wand. If there weren't so many people in here she could get a clear shot at him…

"I've used it against him, and it saved my life in June." Harry said in almost a whisper. The group silenced, and Smith's mouth hung open unattractively. Harry looked nervous again.

"If you think it's beneath you, you know where the door is." Lia called out, moving to stand next to Harry and squeezing his arm reassuringly.

No one moved.

"Right." Harry repeated. "Let's…divide into pairs and try it out."

As the group stood up and paired off, Harry turned to Lia.

"Thanks." He smiled at her.

"No problem. It's like good cop, bad cop." She said, using a muggle phrase she'd heard before. "Just please, don't make me pair with Neville…"

Indeed, Longbottom was the only person left partner less. Harry sighed.

"You can practice with me." Harry told him. "Ophelia you can watch and help the people who are getting it wrong." Ophelia grinned, glancing at Smith. "But be _nice_." He said, noticing her gaze.

"Right on the count of three- one, two three-"

Over a dozen voices shouted _Expelliarmus_ as wands flew about all over the room. Ophelia observed, noting that the majority of the group had bad aim, more than half of them had not disarmed their partner at all, and some of them hadn't even be able to point their wands at their opponent before they'd got disarmed. Ophelia sighed, and entered the fray.

"You're flourishing your wand too much," She explained to a fifth year Hufflepuff she thought was named Ernie. He looked at her in confusion.

"You don't need to move it around so much." She said. "It makes you take longer to cast the spell, meaning that your opponent's got longer to realise you're about to attack him. The best way to use a disarming charm is before your enemy gets a chance to attack you, so you've got to be quick. Like this – _Expelliarmus!" _

Ophelia flicked her wand sharply, and Ernie's wand came shooting out of his outstretched arm towards her. She caught it deftly, and threw it back to him.

"Got it?" She asked, as he caught his wand.

"I think so." He muttered. "…Thanks."

Ophelia managed a smile. "You're welcome."

"You're not a half bad teacher." A familiar voice sounded in her ear. Lia turned round to see George grinning at her. She grinned back.

"Who'd have thought it?"

"Care to impart some wisdom on me and Fred? Or are our duelling skills already second to none?"

Ophelia raised her eyebrows. "Well seeing as you both are using this time to torment our , I can't really pass judgement on your duelling skills." She retorted. The twins had indeed been disarming Zacharias from behind. "Not that I'm complaining, the boy's an ass."

Fred snorted from behind George. "I don't think Harry appreciates as much as you" He said, pointing out the black haired boy as he looked pointedly at the twins. "I much prefer you as a teacher."

Lia smiled. "Aw, shucks Fred that means the world to me!" She said sarcastically as Harry walked over to them.

"Sorry Harry Couldn't resist" George said hastily, squeezing Ophelia's hand quickly before moving to _actually_ practice with Fred.

"We were right to start with the basics." Ophelia stated, looking around the room with Harry.

He sighed. "Yeah. I didn't think it would be _this_ bad though. I mean-" He got cut off as a spell hit the bookcase behind him, and a book lept off the shelf and hit him on the head.

"Sorry Harry!" The blonde Gryffindor whose spell had hit him called out.

"That's ok Colin." Harry replied, sighing again. "I think it's time for a time out."

He aimed this statement at Ophelia, who agreed.

"OK, stop!" He shouted. "_Stop! STOP!"_

The students were too engrossed in their duelling to hear him. Ophelia rolled her eyes.

"STOP!" She bellowed, and the room silenced, save for the sounds of a few wands clattering to the floor. She looked pointedly at Harry, who just shook his head and grinned.

"That wasn't bad, but there's definite room for improvement." He said. Some of the teenagers looked forlorn at this statement.

"The main problem is aim." Ophelia said loudly, looking around the room. "You've got to really concentrate on where you want the spell to hit. And look at where you're pointing your wand, don't just assume that because it's in the same direction as your opponent it's going to hit them."

Zacharias Smith glared at her, and she glared pointedly back.

"Thanks, Lia." Harry said, "Now, let's try it again."

The spell work was better this time, and Harry and Ophelia spent their time walking around the group and giving tips. Ophelia was impressed with Harry's knowledge; he seemed to have a natural ability for duelling like her. The only further incident was when Cho Chang from Ravenclaw set her partners robes alight, but Lia thought this was more because of Harry's presence then lack of ability.

The meeting ended at ten past nine, when Hermione pointed out how late it was getting to Harry. They agreed to meet up again the following Wednesday. Ophelia was just about to leave, George had winked at her slyly as he left, and she quite fancied pulling him into another broom closet, when Harry approached her.

"That was good." He said, grinning.

"Yeah, there was great improvement by the end." she said distractedly, glancing towards the door that the twins had just walked through.

"Next time, I was thinking we could cover shield charms." Harry said, following Ophelia's gaze to the door. "I know you're pretty good at them-"

Ophelia raised an eyebrow. "Pretty good? Please Potter, don't insult my skills like that. I'm incredible at shield charms."

"Yeah well that was why I was hoping you'd lead the next session." He replied, smiling wickedly at her.

She sighed. "Fine. But if I get anymore sass from that Hufflepuff prick, I'm hexing him."

"You have my full permission."


	12. Chapter 12

Ophelia's defence lesson went surprisingly well. As she predicted, at the start of the lesson, the other student's couldn't conjure a shield charm strong enough to withstand much more than a disarming charm. But by the end of the meeting they were blocking stunners and some stronger jinxes, and Lia felt strangely proud. At the end of the meeting she'd even challenged Harry to try and break past her own shield charms, and they ended up having a mock duel, to the entertainment of the rest of Dumbledore's Army.

"What was that spell tried to use on me last?" Harry asked, as they left the Room of Requirement with the Weasleys and Hermione.

"It was supposed to make your eyebrows grow. I should have cast that before I taught you how to do a proper shield charm" Ophelia said, brushing up against George slightly as they squeezed through the doorway together.

He turned a shade of pink, and Ophelia smirked.

"Yeah well I just wish I'd had blocked the one that transfigured my tie into a Slytherin one. I only had two of those!"

"Well, pay attention to your dear head of house in class and maybe one day she'll teach you how to change it back." She replied, as Harry stuffed the offending tie in his pocket.

"You're lucky she only changed your tie mate," Ron said, laughing. "Remember last week when she gave Parkinson a cow's nose?"

Hermione snorted loudly. "That was you, Ophelia?"

Lia grinned, remembering the occasion. Pansy had said something particularly mean about Tracey's appearance. Trace had called her a cow, and Lia had given her the face to match.

"Yeah well I was just trying to make her face match her personality, if you know what I mean." Lia said.

"Remind me never to get on your bad side." Fred muttered.

"Yeah," added George, winking at her subtly, "You can be utterly terrifying at times."

Lia raised her eyebrows at him defiantly. "Oh, you have no idea."

They'd come to the end of the corridor, where they'd have to split. Lia was going back to the dungeons, and the Gryffindor's were going up to their tower.

"Bugger, I left my Galleon in the Room." George said, glancing quickly at Ophelia as he said it.

"Want me to come help you find it?" asked his twin.

"Nah, it's ok, I'll catch you up." He started to walk back the way they came. "See you later Ophelia!" He called, seemingly as an afterthought.

"Yeah, I guess I'll see you all next time," Ophelia said, smiling a little at the group, before turning the way towards the Slytherin common room.

"See you" Harry called, as they too began to walk away.

As soon as they were beyond her sight, Ophelia turned back around and rushed back towards the Room of Requirement. She opened the door and hurried inside. She was surprised at what she saw.

"So, what's this Room?" She asked, finding George in the middle of it.

"It's the Burrow." He replied, smiling at her. "I wanted to show you it, but I'm not very good at using this room, so I only managed to do mine and Fred's room."

Ophelia grinned. "Well now it seems obvious." She looked around her at the utter chaos. There were various boxes everywhere, about two dozen dirty socks, sweets, fireworks, and somewhere in the middle of it all, two beds.

"Yeah, I need to get around to tidying it next time I'm home," he said, looking around guiltily.

"What would Fred say, letting a Slytherin into his bedroom?" She said, walking over towards him. "When are you going to tell him about this, anyway?"

"You want me to?" George asked, wrapping his arms around her.

Ophelia leant up to kiss him. "If you want to, I mean, he is your twin. You guys do everything together."

George looked at her, trying to hold in a laugh.

"Oh, I didn't mean anything like that, you dirty minded scoundrel!" She said, mock-hitting him on the head. "I just mean it seems weird you having this secret from him."

George squeezed her tighter. "I think I like having you secret for a while longer."

Ophelia laughed and kissed him again.

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Ophelia didn't see George for a while after that night, or the rest of the DA. The first Quidditch match of the season was coming up, and his Quidditch Captain had them in daily practices, and as their team made up a lot of the DA, the meetings were put on hold.

Lia hadn't ever been drawn into the sport. Sure, she had attended the Quidditch World Cup final the year before, but that was more for the financial benefit. She'd been selling counterfeit merchandise in the campsite, and managed to make a small fortune. She'd been lucky enough to have left before the Death Eaters strike, only hearing about it the next day in the papers.

Hogwarts however, buzzed with the excitement of a Quidditch match. Gryffindor were playing Slytherin, and the entire school seemed to be invested in the outcome of the match.

"I don't understand," Lia said, buttering a piece of toast, "Why people are fighting so much _before_ anyone's won the match."

"They want to make sure the Gryffindor's don't win." Tracey replied, "Though I don't know why, since Potter became their seeker we haven't won against them once."

They were in the Great Hall at breakfast, a few days before the match. All throughout the week, members of their house had been trying to hex, trip, or generally belittle the Gryffindor players. Ophelia thought it was all rather childish.

"Surely they'd rather win because of their skill, not because someone's cursed the other team's Keeper?"

Tracey laughed. "They'd rather win, full stop. Have you forgotten we're in a house famous for underhand tactics?" She said as she ducked her head from an incoming Owl.

Lia looked up as the post arrived with a pang of sadness. She had not heard from Remus since the incident with Sirius' head in the fire. It seemed he was on the same wavelength as her, and did not want to risk it. She missed his letters, as they always seemed to cheer her up.

"I suppose so. So do you have any plans on this fine Saturday?" She asked her friend.

"Not really, I've got some letters from my parents I need to reply to." Tracey said, not looking up from her breakfast. "You're off to the Library again as usual?"

Ophelia sighed. "Yeah. Got that bloody essay from Umbridge to finish. I don't see why you don't let me copy yours."

Trace finally looked up. "Because last time you did that she noticed, and put us _both_ in detention. I'd rather not clean the trophy room like a muggle again, that was one of the worst experiences of my life."

Lia laughed. "You've clearly lead a charmed life then. I'll see you later?" She stood up to leave.

"Yeah, I might come help you if I've got nothing better to do." Tracey replied, waving offhandedly to her.

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Ophelia sighed over her copy of_ Defensive Magical Theory_. Slinkhard sure knew how to make what should be an interesting subject boring, or maybe it was the fact Umbridge had set this essay.

She saw a flash of silver and green from the corner of her eye and looked up, hoping it was Tracey coming to help her. When she looked up though, there was only, a group of Gryffindors on the other side of the room, and a couple of Ravenclaws in the opposite corner. She sighed again, absent mindedly twirling her wand in her hand.

Suddenly, a flash of orange shot past Ophelia's head, and hit one of the Gryffindors. Ophelia looked behind her in panic. There was no one there. She whipped her head around again, to a girl who she recognised from the DA with hair all over her face, surrounded by her friends, and a couple of angry girls looking towards her.

She followed their gaze down to her hand, where her wand was outstretched towards them. Her eyes popped open in realization.

"Oh shit! That wasn't me! There was, someone – the spell came from behind me." She finished lamely.

"That's _convenient_._" _One of the girls said snidely. "Only there was no one else over there apart from you."

"It wasn't me!" Ophelia protested, as the girl who she now recognised as Spinnet was rushed out of the library accompanied by a small group. Unfortunately a few remained to round up on Lia.

"Who put you up to this? Flint? Malfoy?" A boy asked rudely, glaring at her.

"What? I hate Malfoy, and who the hell is Flint?" She replied, glaring back at him.

"Don't play coy, you little snake!" The boy replied, raising his wand at her. Ophelia raised hers back, not breaking eye contact.

"Try and hex me, I dare you." She said, raising her eyebrows challengingly.

"What." Snape's voice drawled loudly. "Is going on here?"

The potions master seemed to arrive out of nowhere. Ophelia and the boy both dropped their wand arms hastily.

"_She_ just hexed Alica. Made her eyebrows grow all over her face." One of the girls said accusingly.

"Is this true?" Snape asked Ophelia, looking down at her with an expression similar to disgust.

"No! Someone hit her from behind me; I was just trying to write my essay!" She said through gritted teeth.

Snape seemed to ponder the situation for a while. The tension in the room could be cut with a knife. The Gryffindors and the Ravenclaws were all glaring at Ophelia, and she was doing her best to meet their angry stares.

"Miss Spinnet must have had an ill-fated attempt at a hair thickening charm." Snape decided, his drawling voice snapping the students into uproar.

"What?"

"Are you kidding me? We all saw her!"

"Why would she do that to herself?!"

Ophelia couldn't believe her ears. She looked up at Snape thankfully, but he was already talking again.

"_Enough_. Get back to your work, before I give you all detention."

And with that he swooped out of the Library like a bat. Ophelia grabbed her books and followed, wanting nothing more than to get away from the angry pack of Quidditch fans.

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The morning of the Quidditch Match came fast, as November arrived with a sudden temperature drop. Ophelia had taken to wearing two pairs of tights and a pair of long socks with her uniform to keep herself warm in the old castle, and was never seen without her green and silver scarf. She awoke in the dorms with a pillow to the face from Tracey.

"It's _Saturday. _Let me sleep." Ophelia moaned, pulling her covers around her head.

Tracey responded by pulling them back away from her. "It's the _Quidditch_ match today."

"If that was supposed to have any effect on me whatsoever, I'm afraid it's been lost."

"C'mon Phee, you've got to watch the match with me. There's going to be lots of muscly men."

Lia sat up in her bed, to look over at her friend who was positively beaming with the thought.

"What happened to herbology boy?" She asked.

"Oh, him? He's old news. Come on Phee, it's going to be a laugh. Malfoy always loses to Potter, and basically _bawls _afterward."

Lia smirked and got out of bed. "Well you just had to say that in the first place."

About half an hour later Tracey had managed to get Lia into the spirit of things, and both girls descended from their dorm room dressed for the occasion. Tracey had painted green war-like stripes on her cheeks, and was wearing a Slytherin Quidditch jersey. Ophelia had relented and allowed her friend to tie her school tie around her head, and was wearing a woolly green jumper.

As they walked into the Great Hall, Ophelia noticed George and his brother coming down the stairs. As soon as he saw her he made a beeline towards her.

What was George doing? Didn't he notice the multitudes of students around them? This was the worst possible place for a display of affection. She looked up at him, annoyed, and was surprised to see her expression mirrored in his.

"Williams, I need a word with you!" He snarled, as Lia's expression went from angry to shock.

"Err, sure?" She replied, confused. "I'll catch you up Trace." She added to her friend, who looked bewildered by the whole situation.

"Bring her back in one piece, Weasley." Tracey drawled, giving George a look of displeasure.

George grabbed Lia by the arm and started to walk away, dragging her behind him.

"George, what the hell is going on?" She hissed, trying to ignore the many students giving them odd looks.

He pulled her over to an empty alcove and glared at her.

"What?" She asked, impatiently.

"What you did to Alicia was downright awful." He replied, "Why the hell did you hex her?"

Ophelia spluttered with outrage. "What?! George it wasn't me!"

"Oh right, the fact that you were the only other person in the Library was a coincidence?"

"The only other- George there were at least _a dozen_ other people in there at the same time."

He looked down at her incredulously. "Yeah because any of them have a reason to hex Alicia."

"Why would I hex her? We're in the DA together! I'm telling you, it wasn't me." Lia replied, crossing her arms with anger.

"So the fact that she's in our Quidditch team had nothing to do with it?" He asked accusingly.

"George, you know as well as I do I don't give a sod about who wins this stupid game!"

George looked her up and down silently. "Yeah, because it sure looks that way to me." He said sarcastically before walking away.

Lia stood confused for a moment before remembering her attire. Yet again, her house had managed to come in-between her and George. She silently cursed whoever invented the sport of Quidditch before stomping towards the Great Hall.

As she entered she noticed a lot of dirty looks come her way from the red and gold clad Gryffindor table. _Great_.

She trudged over to where Tracey was sat, and groaned inwardly when she saw she was sat with Daphne Greengrass.

"What did Weasley want with you?" Tracey asked as she poured herself some orange juice.

"To shout at me. He reckons I'm the one that hexed their chaser the other day." Ophelia said moodily, grabbing herself some bacon.

"Did you?"

Lia looked at Daphne despairingly and was about to retort back before Tracey interrupted.

"Of course she didn't. Did you not hear Bletchley bragging about it the other day?"

Ophelia looked up. "Who?"

Daphne sighed. "Honestly Williams, don't you know anyone? He's our Keeper." She pointed towards the middle of the table, where the Quidditch team had assembled, laughing over something or another. "There he is."

Lia followed her gesture and noticed the brawly looking seventh year. It was then she noticed that the majority of the Slytherin table were all wearing the same crown shaped badge.

"What are those badge things they're all wearing?" She asked.

Daphne and Tracey sniggered.

"Pansy made them." Daphne answered, pulling one out of her pocket to show Lia.

"Weasley is our king? Should I even ask what that's supposed to mean?"

"It's quite clever, even for Pansy. See the rumour is that the Gryffindor Keeper is terrible. So she made up this song to sing during the match. _Weasley is our King; he always lets the Quaffle in_…" She trailed off after singing the first few lines.

Lia looked over at the Gryffindor table to where Ron was sitting with Harry and Hermione. He looked positively awful. She felt a little sorry for him.

"Isn't that a little childish?" She asked Daphne.

The other girl shrugged haughtily, and pinned the badge to the front of her green robes.

Lia looked over again at Ron. She had a feeling she wasn't going to enjoy this match.

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Ophelia had predicted right. So far Ron had let in four goals, and the whole of the Slytherin stands were singing Pansy's vile song. Lia even caught herself doing so at some point, it was annoyingly catchy.

She'd spent most of the match absent-mindedly watching George. He was an incredible beater, and he worked so in sync with Fred, it was like they shared a brain. She gasped inwardly as one of his team mates got his with a bludger, and watched him as he swooped up to hit it back at another Slytherin. She snapped herself out of her silent admiration as she remembered she was still mad at him. Why did he always have to see the worst in her?

Ophelia was so engrossed in her thoughts she did not notice Harry and Malfoy diving to get the snitch, and she only looked up when she heard a collective groan from the crowd around her.

"What happened?" She called over the noise to Tracey.

"Potter caught the snitch." She replied, watching the Gryffindor spectators screaming with delight.

Ophelia was about to reply when she saw Crabbe swinging his beaters bat. Wasn't the game over now the snitch was caught?

She almost shouted out in shock as she saw Harry fall forwards off his broom onto the grass. Crabbe had hit him in the back with a bludger. She heard a snicker of amusement from Pansy Parkinson a few rows ahead.

"What a sore loser." She said quietly to herself. "Are we going back to the castle now or what? Because I want to be there to belittle Malfoy when he gets back to the common room."

She looked over at Tracey but she wasn't paying attention to Lia. Ophelia followed her gaze back onto the pitch where a fight seemed to be taking place. She craned her neck at she recognised some of the figures on the pitch.

Fred was there, being held back by the three chasers of his team. Next to him stood Harry and George, the latter was struggling against Harry as he held him back. Ophelia moved her gaze to the figure they were trying to get at. Malfoy.

Suddenly the whole situation seemed to make a little sense.

"What could Malfoy be saying to them?" Tracey asked, as more of the students noticed the commotion on the pitch.

"Congratulating them on their win?" Lia replied sarcastically. "What do you think?"

"I don't think I've ever seen those two look so angr-" Tracey's sentence was cut off by a loud scream.

"DRACO!"

Pansy Parkinson's screeching voice cut through Lia's head like a knife. Her eyes whipped back to the pitch where Harry and George were literally pummelling the blonde haired boy.

"_George!_" Lia hushed, and stood up to get a better view. He and Harry were punching Malfoy like there was no tomorrow, and if they didn't stop soon, they'd do some serious damage. Parkinson was screaming and crying, and several other Slytherins started to make their way down to the pitch. Lia and Tracey got knocked out of the way, and Ophelia lost her view of the boys in the chaos. She pulled Tracey out of the crowd, but when they'd emerged Harry and George were storming back to the castle with a furious looking McGonagall, and Malfoy was lying on the floor, bleeding.

"Bloody hell." Tracey breathed.

Ophelia was speechless. She had to get to George.

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	13. Chapter 13

Ophelia was running towards the castle at breakneck speed. She'd garbled some excuse to Tracey and shot off in the direction George, Harry and McGonagall had left in.

She'd _never_ seen George lose control so easily. What had Malfoy said to him?

She approached the castle, and then realised she had no idea where she was going. She supposed they had gone to McGonagall's office, but she had no idea where it was. She paused for a moment, then shot off up to Gryffindor tower. She'd wait outside for him.

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"I'm not letting you in."

"I don't want to get in, I'm just waiting here."

Lia had spent almost half an hour waiting outside the Fat Lady's portrait, and the painting soon began to voice her objections.

"You shouldn't be camping outside someone else's common room you know. You won't be allowed in."

Ophelia snorted. "I've been in a few times before, thank you very much."

The Fat Lady gasped in outrage. "Not on my watch you didn't."

"Yeah, as far as you know." Ophelia replied kicking the wall. She heard footsteps coming towards the tower and she saw a dejected looking George and Harry.

"What happened?" She breathed, running up to George and almost hugging him before she realised they were not alone. She stood awkwardly in front of him. He simply glared at her. She sighed.

"Listen George I told you that thing with Alicia weren't me – it was Bletchley, Tracey heard him bragging about it in the common room, you've got to believe me." She garbled out.

Harry piped up. "She's right, I heard Flint laughing about it during dinner the other night." He said gloomily. George's ears blushed red at this news, a sign he was feeling guilty. "Hi Lia."

Ophelia turned her attention to Harry. "What happened?" She repeated.

"We've been banned from Quidditch. _For life._" He answered in a hollow voice.

"For _life?_"

George answered her question with a silent nod.

"But why would McGonagall…I mean you're on _her_ team!" She questioned.

George kicked the wall. "Because it wasn't McGonagall who banned us. Need a guess who it was?" He spat, speaking for the first time. Ophelia was surprised by the fury in his voice.

"Umbridge." She said. It was a statement, not a question.

Harry sighed. "I'm going inside. I just need to be on my own for a bit before everyone comes back from the match."

He muttered the password to the Fat Lady and clambered through the hole. Ophelia noticed he was still clutching the snitch from the match.

She looked to George. She'd never seen him look so angry, and so lost. She reached her hand out and touched his gently.

"Are you-?"

"Of course I'm not alright Ophelia!" He snapped, pulling his hand away from hers.

She moved her hand back, hurt. "Is there anything I can do?"

He laughed. "Go back in time and make sure that git Malfoy never gets born?" He said sarcastically.

Ophelia frowned. "George what's wrong?"

He looked up, his eyes finally meeting hers. All she saw in them was anger.

"What's up? What's up? I've just been banned from Quidditch, and managed to get Fred banned to when he didn't even do anything. And I'm sick of hearing taunts from Slytherin about my family being poor. Not to mention Umbridge has managed to ruin pretty much everything I liked about this place-"

Ophelia tried to touch his arm again. "George, it's just Quidditch-"

"And _You!_ Can't you just bloody well leave me alone?" He shouted, throwing her hand off his arm.

Ophelia looked at him, her sadness slowly turning into anger.

"Fine." Was all she said, and she turned on her heel and stalked away from George, leaving him standing in the corridor alone.

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The weekend passed and Ophelia still refused to speak to George. On Sunday he'd tried to get her attention by throwing snowballs at her as she walked across the castle grounds. She'd gone to see Hagrid, who'd arrived the previous night. Ophelia knew Hagrid from the crowd in the Leaky Cauldron, and lately, had a hand in helping him get hold of animals for his Care of Magical Creatures class. She hadn't seen him since the previous summer, when she'd unwittingly played a part in the creation of Blast-Ended Screwts. She didn't _know_ he was going to breed the Manticore she managed to track down for him with Fire crabs.

Hagrid was surprised to see her, as he didn't know she was attending Hogwarts now, or even that she was Sirius' daughter. "After all that time and I'd known you when you were a baby!" She'd not used her real name many times during business, in fact, the only person from that crowd that knew her full name was Mungdungus. _And look where that got me._ He spent her visit telling her about his mission for the Order, and telling her stories about her father from the old days.

"When it was his turn to babysit, he just used ter bring you ter the Order meetings," Hagrid had chortled. "Of course, it was hard to stay serious when you'd be crawling around, trying to grab Dumbledore's beard and playing with everyone's shoelaces."

"So I've really met most of the Order before?" She asked. "Bet they got a surprise when I turned up 14 years later."

"We all thought yer to be dead, Ophelia." Hagrid said, gravely. "We was devastated. Losing Lily and James, and little Harry going to live with muggles, and then we lost you too."

"But you didn't," Ophelia said, smiling. "I met you again when I was 13."

Hagrid had laughed. "Yeah, but you were going under the name of 'Cordelia White'"

"One of my many aliases."

Ophelia remembered the conversation she had with Hagrid on Monday morning as she saw him sitting at the staff table. She stiffened as she saw Fred and George rise from the Gryffindor table and run up to shake his hand. _Idiot._ She'd made her mind up to pay him back for his rudeness at the next week's DA meeting. She grinned wickedly at her plan.

"Something funny?" Tracey asked as she sat down next to her.

"Just noticing Professor Hagrid." Lia replied, tearing her eyes away from George.

"It's pretty hard not to if you ask me." Trace replied, pulling some parchment out of her bag. "I've got this bloody runes homework to finish and I have no idea. Help me?"

"Tracey you know I don't take runes." Lia replied, looking at the parchment, and just seeing strange symbols.

"Yeah you took Care of Magical Creatures instead, you're going to regret it now Hagrid's back. Last year he had them looking after some fire breathing slug things, half the class nearly got killed. Where he got a manticore from to breed them I have no idea."

Ophelia very determedly pretended to look for something in her bag.

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Ophelia headed down to Hagrid's after breakfast for her Care of Magical Creatures lesson. She saw Harry, Ron and Hermione walking in the same direction, but did not risk more than a quick smile as a greeting, as Malfoy was watching her closely.

"We're working' in here today!" Hagrid called as the class approached, gesturing behind him toward the forbidden forest. "Bit more sheltered, and they prefer the dark."

Ophelia furrowed her brow in confusion. What could be in the forest for them to study? She pondered this as she listened to Malfoy panic. Evidentially he had not had happy experiences in the forest. She looked over and saw Harry smiling slightly to himself.

"Ready?" Hagrid called out again happily. "Right, well, I've bin savin' a trip inter the Forest fer yer fifth year. Thought we'd go an' see these creatures in their natural habitat. Now, they're pretty rare, I reckon I'm probably the only person in Britain whose managed ter train them."

"Are you sure they're trained? It wouldn't be the first time you've brought wild stuff to class!" Malfoy called out spitefully. The other Slytherins nodded in agreement. Ophelia's hatred for her cousin intensified.

"Of course." Hagrid replied, stopping to pick up what looked like half a dead cow. Lia blanched slightly at the sight of it.

"So what happened to your face?" Indeed, Hagrid still had the bruises from his visit to the giants evident on his face. He finally snapped at Malfoy to mind his own business, and the class set off into the forest.

The forbidden forest was somewhere that Ophelia had yet to explore around Hogwarts. The vast darkness of the place reminded her of dementors somehow, and she'd always been a little wary of it. Now, as they trudged through the snowy ground, she realised it wasn't too bad. She'd heard the rumours about creatures living in the forest, and the ones about werewolves she at least knew to be false.

_Whoever made that one up forgot they were human the majority of the time._

They made their way into a large clearing, the trees protecting the ground from snow. Hagrid threw the dead cow on the floor, and looked up at the class, who mostly looked terrified.

"Right, I'm goin' ter give 'em a call, 'cause they like to know its me." Hagrid said, before throwing his head back and giving a monstrous cry. Ophelia laughed softly at the sound, but she was the only one. The rest of the class was in a scared silence. Hagrid called twice more, but still nothing happened.

Out of the corner of her eye, Lia saw Harry nudge Ron and point towards a seemingly empty space. He looked round at Ron eagerly, but Ron, like Ophelia, couldn't seem to see whatever Harry could.

Ophelia looked around and saw Neville, who seemed to be similarly focused on thin air, and Nott who was watching the dead cow with a look of displeasure.

"Now, who can see 'em?"

The three students who Ophelia witnessed raised their hands, as Hagrid pointed to the cow carcass. The flesh was ripping its self away from the bones and vanishing. It all clicked together, whatever they were studying was _invisible_.

"What's eating it?!" Pansy shrieked, horrified as she moved to hide behind a tree. Ophelia laughed at her cowardice.

"Threstrals." Hagrid said simply.

"_Hem Hem_" A voice from behind the class sounded. Ophelia groaned inwardly. Why was Umbridge everywhere these days?

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Lia was thinking about the encounter Threstrals later that night at her next DA meeting. She'd ever witnessed anyone dying, so she couldn't see them. She felt a pang of sadness for Harry, and Neville, and even Theo Nott. She decided she hadn't given Harry and Neville enough credit. For all she thought about them, they had truly been through horrible things –worse things than even Lia had been through. She didn't know how she could deal with seeing somebody die.

She noticed Harry looking pointedly at her. Looking up, she noticed the rest of the DA looking curiously at her. She remembered where she was, the Room of Requirement. It was the last day of term, and therefore the last meeting before Christmas. Ophelia would be going back to Grimmauld Place the next morning to spend the holiday with Sirius and Remus.

"Yes?"

"Err, I was just explaining how this is the last meeting till after Christmas and that you're leading it today?" Harry said, giving her a meaningful look.

"Right? Right!" Ophelia said, jumping up. She grinned wickedly. "Right so; today I'm going to be teaching you a few muggle duelling tricks."

The rest of the DA broke out into a curious murmur. A few of them even looked annoyed.

"Muggle duelling?" Smith from Hufflepuff retorted. "What use is that going to be? We're _wizards._"

The room fell silent at his remark, and half the group looked like they secretly agreed with Smith.

Ophelia walked down to where Smith was stood in the middle of the group with the rest of the Hufflepuffs. She stopped so she was standing right in front of him, and took his wand from where it was held limply by his side.

"Now what are you going to do?" She asked him. He stayed silent.

Ophelia handed his wand back to him and walked back to face the front of the group. Now she had their attention she began to talk.

"You might think it's beneath you, but really, what's a witch or a wizard without their wand? Now you've learnt the disarming charm, you know how easy it is to lose our only weapon. If a dark wizard has got you by disarmed and at wand point, they think they've got you cornered. Let me tell you, the last thing they expect is for you to fight them like a muggle. And that's an advantage."

She flicked her wand and conjured up the pillows that they'd used the previous week in stunning.

"I'm going to show you a few techniques, and I want you to practice them. Now, I need a volunteer."

She grinned evilly at the group, and all of them seemed to shrink backwards slightly.

"George, thank you for volunteering!" She called loudly.

George, who had been determedly avoiding her eye, tried to move behind Fred and push him forwards.

"George, I'm not going to fall for that. I can tell you both apart. Get up here."

The red headed twin trudged towards her, looking terrified. Harry was laughing to himself.

"Ok, so first of all I'm going to tell you the best places to strike if someone's attacking you."

She looked at George expectantly.

"What?" He asked her, embarrassed.

"Go on then, attack me?"

"What?" He repeated. The class giggled.

"Just, come at me and try to attack me."

He sighed, and rushed towards her, reaching out to grab her arm half-heartedly. Ophelia used her other arm to swing herself round to face him, and hit his nose with the heel of her hand.

"Fuck!" George shouted, staggering backward. Ophelia smirked. She hadn't hit hard enough to inflict any damage, just enough to hurt. The class gasped.

"Now, the best place to hit them is the nose or the eyes. This can incapacitate them long enough for you to run or apparate away. You noticed I hit George with the heel of my hand, this inflicts the most pain-"

"You don't fucking say!"

"- and is most effective. Now, if your attacker is standing behind you – George!"

"What!" He retorted.

"Stand behind me."

"Not bloody likely."

"I won't hit you that hard again. Just do it so I can show the group please?"

Grumbling under his breath, George moved so he was stood behind Lia.

"If you're attacker is behind you, it's better to use your elbow, like so-", and she moved to connect the point of her elbow with Georges nose. He stumbled backwards.

"You said you wouldn't hit me that hard!"

"I didn't!"

Over the next half an hour, Ophelia demonstrated various types of self-defence to the class, inflicting pain on George's neck, arms and knees. She decided not to demonstrate hitting him where it would really hurt, but enjoyed the look on his face when she described to the class the best place to strike a male attacker.

Only when she had finished her demonstrations did she let the group pair off and practice, and only then did she mention cushioning charms, so no real pain would be felt. As the class moved to practice eagerly, George approached Ophelia.

"Ok, I get it."

"Hmm?" She asked, pretending to focus on the group.

"I'm an idiot, ok? I'm sorry for shouting at you the other day." George said, taking her hand.

Ophelia smirked and raised an eyebrow. "George are you suggesting that today's lesson was all a ruse to get back at you? I would never stoop so low."

He chuckled. "Sure you wouldn't. But am I forgiven now you've embarrassed me by beating me up in front of all my mates?"

She smiled. "Of course. But you should know I didn't hit you _that_ hard – I didn't break your nose this time."

He laughed. "I suppose so. Come to my dorm room tonight?"

She turned to face him. "Just try to keep me away."

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"So where did you learn to fight like that?"

It was about three in the morning. Ophelia was lying with George in his bed, her head resting on his chest. They'd cast a sneaky silencing charm on the bed, so no one could hear their conversation. They'd been in a content silence, but Ophelia looked up at George's last remark.

"From experience, I guess." She answered, moving her head back down. George didn't make a reply, so she carried on. "I lived down Knockturn Alley for a while…it's the sort of place where a girl has to know how to take care of herself. Plus, if you're in my line of business you've got to have a few tricks up your sleeve."

George sighed. "I hate thinking about you having to live like that. Wasn't there anyone else that could take you in after your aunt died? Isn't Lupin your godfather?"

Ophelia looked up at him again. "I don't. It's a part of who I am. Besides, as far as everyone else was concerned, Ophelia Black was dead. "

George frowned. "I know. It just doesn't seem fair."

Lia reached up and brushed the red hair out of George's eyes. "You can't change the past George. I've realised that now. It was hard at first, coming here, seeing what I missed out on. But I've got it now." She smiled and leaned up to kiss him.

At that moment the hangings to George's bed shot open unexpectedly. Ophelia moved to cover herself with the sheets.

"What the- Oh shit." George exclaimed, as he looked up with a sinking stomach to face the intruder.

"What on EARTH is going on here?" Professor McGonagall shouted.


	14. Chapter 14

Ophelia was stunned into speechlessness while George simply stuttered. McGonagall withdrew her face from the curtains and closed them again.

"Professor Dumbledore needs you and your brother in his office. I suppose you should come too Miss Williams. I am going to ignore the fact that you are not permitted to be in the Gryffindor tower, let alone the Seventh Year boy's dorms because of the severe situation we're in." The teacher called out to the couple. George quickly put his pyjama top on, and threw a spare pair at Ophelia, who swiftly dressed.

"What's going on?" George asked as he climbed out of bed. Lia followed, grabbing her wand off the bedside table. She looked up to see Fred standing behind McGonagall, looking as confused as she felt.

"I will explain once I have awoken your sister. Please wait for me in the Common Room." She replied, her voice shaking slightly. Lia's curiosity deepened. What had happened to make the usually stern professor lose her nerve?

She, Fred and George walked down the stairs to the common room in silence. Only once they got there was it broken.

"What's going on?" George said, looking toward his brother.

Fred looked back at George in distaste. "I know about as much as you." He said curtly. George's expression moved to an even more bewildered one.

"What's the matter with you?" He asked Fred.

Fred stayed silent, but his eyes flickered over to Ophelia and gave his thoughts away. She looked at him questioningly.

"Why didn't you tell me?" He asked, simply.

"I was going to," George started, but at that moment McGonagall came down the girl's staircase with a dressing-gown clad Ginny and the brothers hushed into silence again.

"Your father has been injured on a mission from the Order. We must hurry to Dumbledore's office, so you can leave before Umbridge realises." McGonagall said gravely.

George grabbed Ophelia's hand sharply. She squeezed it back. For Dumbledore to order the Weasleys to his office in the middle of the night had to mean that Mr Weasley was seriously hurt. She looked up at George but his face had drained. Ginny let out a hushed sob, and Fred put his arms around her.

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They reached the doors of Dumbledore's office, and McGonagall uttered the password, and ushered them inside. Ophelia's worry increased when she saw Ron and Harry with the headmaster, both as pale as sheets.

"Harry – what's going on?" Ginny said, her voice trembling. "McGonagall said you saw dad get hurt-"

"Your father has been injured in the course of his work for the Order of the Phoenix." Dumbledore said, before Harry could open his mouth to reply. Ophelia couldn't help but think his voice oddly formal.

"He has been taken to St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries," He continued. "I am sending you back to Sirius' house, which is much more convenient for the hospital than the Burrow. You will meet your mother there."

Ophelia flooded with relief. They were going to Grimmauld Place, not the hospital. That had to mean Arthur wasn't close to death.

"How're we going? Floo Powder?" Fred asked.

"No, the Floo network is being watched. You will be taking a portkey." Dumbledore replied.

"What's- Why is Ophelia here?" Ron asked, quietly, looking from George to Lia.

Ophelia thought she saw a glimmer of a twinkle in Dumbledore's eyes. "Everyone needs a bit of emotional support during hard times. But I'm sure Professor McGonagall will give you your punishments after the Christmas holidays, Mr Weasley and Miss Black."

At that moment a flash of fire appeared in the middle of the office, making Ginny jump. A single golden feather floated from the flame to the floor.

"Umbridge must know you are out of your beds, we must be quick now. Minerva, if you could go and head her off. Everyone else, come here quickly. You have used a portkey before?"

They all nodded, and reached out to touch a part of the old black kettle Dumbledore had set upon his desk.

"Good, on the count of three then. One…Two…_Three"_

Ophelia felt the familiar jerk behind her belly button, and felt hurtled forwards with a swirl, knocked into George as the ground beneath her feet reappeared again, and she found herself in Grimmauld Place once more. She heard Kreacher's muttering from the next room, and then a voice she recognised as Sirius' shouting, "OUT!"

She let George help her up, as Sirius hurried towards them through the kitchen door. He looked more nervous than Ophelia had ever seen him before. He was unshaven, and clearly had been up all night, and she thought she smelt a whiff of fire whiskey on him.

"What's going on?" He asked, helping Ginny up. "What's happened to-?"

He stopped short as he noticed Ophelia. He gave her a confused look that quickly turned to anger. Ophelia realised with a jolt that she was wearing George's Pyjamas. She realised in a second jolt that George was still squeezing her hand.

"George, what's going on here? Why does my daughter wearing what looks like your clothes, and not _her own_?!"

George dropped her hand like it was a red hot poker. Sirius stepped forward with a look of fierce protectiveness in his eyes.

"Sirius, not the time for that ok?" Lia said, slowly and calmly. "I think we all need to know what's going on with Arthur first."

He stepped back, and seemed to realise the situation he was in.

"Right. Phineas Nigellus said Arthur's been badly injured, do you know what's happened?"

"Ask Harry," Fred answered, looking at Potter.

"Yeah, I want to hear this for myself," George said, piping up for the first time since they heard the news.

Harry seemed uncomfortable under the pressure. "It was- I had a- a kind of…vision. I saw this snake, this huge snake, attack Mr Weasley, it bit him a few times, I'm, I'm not sure what sort of state he's in."

The three Weasleys who hadn't heard the story before stared at Harry, as did Ophelia. This was all very peculiar. Why would Harry be having visions about a snake and Arthur? The room contemplated his story, staying silent for a few minutes before Fred talked again.

"Is Mum here?"

Sirius sat down on one of the kitchen chairs. "She probably doesn't know yet. You had to get away before Umbridge realised what was going on – Dumbledore's probably telling her now."

"Well we've got to go to the hospital!" Ginny piped up urgently. "Sirius, have you got any cloaks or anything."

In Ophelia's head she screamed protests. No, too suspicious, will attract too much attention.

"You can't just go tearing off to St. Mungo's!" Sirius said. _Thank you!_

"Of course we can!" Fred argued, "He's _our _dad!"

"And how exactly are you going to explain you knew he was attacked before the hospital even let his wife know?"

"Why does that matter!" George retorted from beside Ophelia. _Shut up George, he's already mad at you!_

"It matters because we don't want to draw attention to the fact that Harry is having visions of things happening miles and miles away! Do you have any idea what the Ministry would do?"

The twins gave Sirius a dirty look, as Ginny replied, "We could have heard somewhere else, someone could have told us…"

"Like?" Sirius snapped. "Your dad was hurt on duty for the Order, the circumstances are already fishy enough, without you lot knowing about it mere seconds after it happened and you could seriously damage the Order's-"

"YOU THINK WE GIVE A DAMN ABOUT THE ORDER?!" Fred bellowed suddenly, slamming his fist on the table.

"IT'S OUR DAD – DYING, WE'RE TALKING ABOUT!" George yelled, pulling his arm away from Lia's as she tried to calm him down.

"Your father knew what he was getting into, and it won't help anything you messing things up for us! This is how it is – this is why you're not members – there are things worth dying for!"

"Well that's easy for you to say – I don't see you risking your neck!" Fred bellowed.

"Is it not worth it, now you don't have a baby to abandon?" George added.

Ophelia drew a sharp intake of breath. She did not want to get in the middle of a fight between George and her father. She looked towards Sirius as the colour drained from his face. He looked as though he would like to hit George, but he kept himself oddly calm.

"I know it's hard, but you've all got to act as though we don't know anything yet. You've got to stay put, at least until we hear from your mother, all right?"

Fred and George still had anger in their eyes. But it was Ginny who relented, and sank into a chair next to her. Ron and Harry followed suit, and Fred and George finally sat down either side of their sister. It was only Sirius and Lia left standing now, and their eyes met in relief.

"Right, let's have a drink while we're waiting." He said, raising his wand.

"It's ok, I'll get them!" Lia said, wanting to remove herself from the situation. She felt like an intruder in her own home. She moved towards the pantry and Sirius followed her. He shut the door behind him.

"Is he going to live?" Lia asked bluntly.

Sirius wringed his hands together. "I'm not sure."

She looked at him in worry. "You were right; they can't go to Mungo's yet."

He looked at her strangely. "You've got good instincts."

She smiled, despite herself. "It's genetic."

She moved to open the door, but Sirius stopped her.

"I'm still not happy with your boyfriend."

"He's not my _boyfriend."_

"What?!"

Ophelia sighed. "Sirius, not the time, or place. Can we deal with the present crisis first please?" And he relented and opened the door.

Ophelia passed round butter beers as they waited for news from Mrs Weasley. A burst of fire like the one in Dumbledore's office appeared, making everyone jump, and a scroll appeared from the flame.

"Fawkes! It must be a message from your mother!" Sirius shouted, grabbing the note and passing it to George, who read it out loud: _Dad is still alive. I am setting out for St. Mungo's. Stay where you are. I will send news as soon as I can. Mum_

"Still alive…but, that makes it sound..."

Ophelia grabbed his hand tightly.

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It must have been the longest night in Ophelia's life. They sank into a silence, drinking butter beer and watching the clock. Ophelia tried to speak words of re-assurement, but they seemed to fall on deaf ears.

Soon, they began to doze off. Ginny curled up in her chair, and Fred's head lolled slightly onto his shoulder. Ron was sitting with his face hidden in his hands. George had settled with his head on Ophelia's shoulder, still grasping her hand. Lia let him sleep like this, catching odd glances from Sirius as he regarded the pair. The two of them and Harry seemed to be the only ones awake, as if they were watching over the grieving family.

What seemed like hours after Mrs Weasley's message, the kitchen door swung open with a creak. Mrs Weasley appeared, looking pale as a ghost. Ophelia nudged George gently awake as the rest of the Weasley's faces looked up toward the new arrival.

"He's going to be all right." She said, and relief flooded through Lia's body. "He's sleeping. We can all go and see him in the morning, Bill's there at the moment." She smiled weakly.

George stood up and walked over to his mother, hugging her tight. The tension in the room lifted immediately, Ron laughed nervously and Fred sat down with his hands covering his face. Ophelia looked over at Sirius and smiled slightly.

"Breakfast!" He said, jumping up. "Where's Kreacher? Kreacher!"

The elf did not appear, so Sirius set to cooking the food himself. Harry and Ophelia hurried over to help, not wanting to intrude on the family's happiness. Mrs Weasley had other plans however, and pulled Harry over for a hug before talking to him.

Ophelia took the plates from where Harry had left them and brought them over to the kitchen counter. She looked over as George was hugging Ginny. She was incredibly happy for the family. She didn't know what George would do if his father hadn't made it. She watched his face as it broke out into a grin, and she found herself smiling slightly herself.

"Not your boyfriend, ey?" Sirius snickered next to her.

"Oh, shut up you." She replied, hitting him with a tea towel. "I'm just thankful Mrs Weasley hasn't recognised the Pyjamas."

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	15. Chapter 15

Ophelia retreated into the room she'd occupied over the summer after breakfast, and didn't come out till she was sure the Weasley's and Harry had left for the hospital to visit Mr Weasley. She walked down to the kitchen to find a pleasant surprise.

"Remus!" She cried, and rushed over to hug her godfather. "When did you get here?"

"A few hours ago." He replied, hugging her back. "Why didn't you go to St. Mungo's with the others?"

Ophelia pulled her face. "I'm not good with hospitals. Memories…" She trailed off.

Remus changed the subject quickly. "How's school?"

Ophelia pulled another face. "Awful. Umbridge is a right piece of work. And as for the cretins I have to share a house with – It's bad enough I'm related to Malfoy, but do I have to share classes with him too?"

Remus chuckled. "I'm sure you handle yourself quite well."

Ophelia punched him lightly on the arm "Damn straight! How you taught him for a year I have _no_ idea."

"With great difficulty. It didn't surprise me when the next Defence teacher transfigured him into a ferret."

Ophelia burst out laughing. "That's amazing."

"_Don't _get any ideas now."

"Oh Remus, you know I can't promise that." She replied, grinning. Her smile stayed as Sirius walked into the kitchen, clean shaved and in fresh clothes.

"Morning Padfoot," Remus said, still laughing.

"When did you get here Moony?" Sirius asked, pulling up a chair.

"A few hours ago… I didn't want to wake you up; I hear you've had a long night."

"Yeah I wanted to talk to you about that, I'm worried about Harry…"

Ophelia rolled her eyes as she blocked out the conversation and went to get herself some pumpkin juice. It was always about Potter with Sirius. She hadn't spoken to him or Remus in months and he was talking about Harry, _again._ She moved to leave the kitchen, but a stern voice stopped her.

"Don't think you're going anywhere young lady."

She turned around to look at Sirius with her eyebrow raised. "Excuse me?"

"We need to talk about the state you turned up in last night."

Now it was Remus' turn to raise his eyebrows.

"What state?" Ophelia challenged. If he was going to have this conversation with her, she was going to make it as awkward as possible for him.

"You know what I mean!" He said exasperated.

"Oh on the contrary Sirius, I have no idea what you mean." She said, smirking.

"Turning up, in the middle of the night- in boy's clothes! I've already been told McGonagall found you in the boy's dormitories."

"I was visiting George." She said simply.

"In the middle of the night?!" Remus piped up. _Great, now Remus is getting involved._

"What's it to do with you?!" She retorted. "_Either_ of you." She added, as she saw Sirius' mouth open.

Sirius shook his head in frustration. "Well it's not going to be happening again. Especially under my roof. You're to sleep in your own room from while you're here. _And George will stay in his._"

Ophelia rolled her eyes sullenly, but she didn't argue.

"And I'll be having a word with him, too."

"What!"

"You're my daughter; I'm just trying to protect you!"

"From what- I'm not an idiot!"

"You know what I mean!"

"No I don't _Daddy,_ why don't you spell it out for me?"

"From ending up like your mother!" Sirius shouted, and his hands flew to his mouth as soon as he said it.

Ophelia fell silent. Even Remus looked worried.

"What." She said, "Is that supposed to mean."

"Nothing – it doesn't mean anything."

"It didn't sound like nothing."

"Ophelia, I'm sorry, I didn't mean it-"

"WHAT DID YOU MEAN?" Ophelia yelled. Sirius stayed silent.

"Remus, I know you know what he's on about, tell me, please."

"I really don't think it's my place-"

"Well someone needs to tell me what's going on"

"I'm not exactly sure-"

"Your mother didn't mean to get pregnant, is what I mean." Sirius said, sitting down and putting his head in his hands.

Ophelia sat down. "Explain. Now."

Her father sighed. "Me and your mother weren't exactly _together_, when…when she fell pregnant with you... But then you came along and you were…so perfect. We stuck together to raise you."

"Are you trying to tell me you never loved my mother?" Ophelia said.

Sirius closed his eyes. "That's not how it was…we both…we both knew what the relationship was."

"A one night stand that ended up with a _little accident"_ Lia said, spitefully, standing up.

"Lia, please-"

She laughed. "No, it all makes sense now. What was it, a quickie wedding when you found out she was pregnant?"

"Ophelia" Remus warned.

"I get it now, why you left that night. Of course your friends were more important to you, than the wife and child you never wanted. It's obvious now, why you care about Harry more than me. You never wanted me, but you loved him and his parents. She loved you though, my mother. Bet you didn't bank on that. She loved you more than me. She left me to go after you that night. Because she loved you enough to try and stop you going to prison. Shame you didn't love her enough to stop her dying."

She found she had tears in her eyes. She blinked them away angrily. Sirius stood up, crying himself and walked over to her.

"Lia. My little Lia. I am so, so sorry." He said, putting his arms around her in a hug. She tried to fight against it but found herself letting him hold her, and letting the tears fall.

"It's….not….fair!" She cried between sobs.

"Shhh, shhh I know. I am so sorry. It's my entire fault."

"Don't…leave…me…again"

"I wont. I promise." He soothed, stroking her hair. She continued to sob. Sirius looked towards Remus for help, but he looked just as bewildered as Sirius. Ophelia couldn't stop crying. Now she had let the tears free, sixteen years' worth of sadness seemed to be spilling out.

Remus lifted his wand and muttered a charm. The girl fell silent.

"What did you do?" Sirius cried.

"Dreamless sleep charm," Remus said. "I think she needs it."

Sirius nodded in agreement, and lifted his sleeping daughter in his arms.

"Guess she's not as hard as nails after all," He said. "I don't think I've ever seen her cry before."

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Sirius carried Ophelia to her bed, and shut the door behind him.

"Should I have told her all that?" He asked Remus when he returned to the kitchen

Remus put down his copy of the Daily Prophet to look at his old friend.

"I think so. She would have found out eventually."

When Sirius continued to look concerned, Remus sighed and went on, "Look, the most important thing is that she's here with us now."

Sirius nodded slightly to himself. "I bet this is her first Christmas spent in an actual house. We need to make it special."

Remus chuckled. "You and your Christmas spirit. I still haven't got over that year you decided to decorate our dorm room by hand. Glitter _everywhere._"

"Well the house elves didn't do a good enough job. Not nearly enough tinsel."

At that moment the Weasleys entered the kitchen, looking a lot better than they did the previous night.

"Molly, how's Arthur doing?" Remus asked, standing up and walking over to give her a hug.

"Much better now, thank you Remus." Mrs Weasley replied, taking off her winter coat. The rest of the Weasleys followed suit, and Sirius noticed George looked very uncomfortable to be in his presence.

"Ophelia's asleep." He said to the group, looking at George significantly. "And I would like her to stay that way till at least tomorrow morning, so don't go disturbing her."

George nodded awkwardly.

"And as long as you're under my roof, you'll stay in your own room at night, and she'll stay in hers." Sirius blurted out.

George's eyes widened and Mrs Weasley's head snapped up.

"Sirius? Whatever did you mean by that?"

George flushed a deep red, and Fred, Ron and Ginny stopped what they were doing to watch the encounter.

"Your son has been sneaking _my_ daughter into Gryffindor tower for late night visits." Sirius said.

The rest of the room immediately pretended to busy themselves. Remus picked up the prophet again, Fred grabbed the coats and muttered something about tidying them away, and Ron and Ginny stalked off talking about getting a drink.

Mrs Weasley flushed the same shade as her son, but this time, it was from anger.

"George. Explain." She said quietly, rage building in her voice.

George tried to hide his face with his hands. His silence seemed to explain everything to Molly.

"George Gideon Weasley! I thought I'd raised you better than this!"

George shrank deeper into his chair.

"Sirius, I hope you've had words with your daughter." Mrs Weasley continued, turning to face Sirius.

"Of course I- Wait, what do you mean by that?" Sirius said, crossing his arms.

"Well my children have never done anything like this until _she_ came along." Mrs Weasley replied angrily.

"And _what_ exactly do you mean by that?"

"You know exactly what I mean! Your daughter is a bad influence!" Mrs Weasley shouted.

"Mum-" George started, but Sirius cut him off.

"Oh you're saying _Ophelia's_ to blame in all of this?"

"I'm saying I have never had to tell off one of my sons for something like this before now!"

"Mum, please-"

"_You."_ Sirius said, turning to face George. "Stay away from my daughter."

"What?" George said.

"Finally something we agree on." Molly said. "George, I don't want to hear about anything about this again. You stay away from Ophelia from now on."

George kicked back his chair and stormed out the room, slamming the door behind him. Molly looked flustered for a moment, and then busied herself with making dinner. Sirius moved to sit next to Remus, who looked up at his friend.

"Don't you say anything?" Sirius said, giving him a warning look.

"Oh come on Sirius, you really think Ophelia's innocent in all of this? You know as well as I do she's never met a rule she hasn't broken… or a law for that matter."

"I got caught up in defending her, ok? It doesn't matter now."

"She's not going to like this you know."

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When Ophelia woke the next morning she felt like a weight had been taken off her shoulders. She dressed quickly and ran a brush through her hair before skipping down to where Fred and George's room was. She rapped twice quickly on the door before slipping in.

The twins were still fast asleep, and Lia was struck with an idea. Getting her wand out, she whispered "Aguamenti" and hit George in the face with a blast of ice cold water.

"What the-" He spluttered before waking up.

"Shhh!" Ophelia giggled. "You'll wake Fred!"

George's eyes widened as he noticed Ophelia.

"How's your dad?" She asked, moving to sit down on his bed. George pulled the covers tighter around himself.

"Better, thanks. You know you really shouldn't be here Lia." He hissed, stretching to move a piece of hair out of her face.

"Why?" She frowned. "What's my dad said to you?"

"Last night, when we got back, he and my Mum got into a huge argument about us." He replied.

Ophelia laughed softy. "About _us?"_

George nodded. "Apparently my mum thinks you're a bad influence on me, and your dad didn't appreciate that all too well. They finally stopped yelling at each other long enough to agree that we were to stay away from each other."

Ophelia snorted. George gave her a funny look.

"Oh come on George, you're not actually going to listen to them are you?"

"Well I don't exactly want to annoy your dad, he _is an escaped convict"_ He muttered, putting emphasis on the "escaped convict" part.

Ophelia smirked. "I'd rather be up against an escaped convict than _your mother."_

George laughed and pulled her in for a hug. "I suppose so." He said, kissing the top of her head. They were interrupted by a pillow hitting George in the head. They looked round to see Fred grinning at them.

"Willing to take on my mother and an escaped convict?" He said, smiling at Ophelia. "George mate, I might have to fight you for this one."

George untangled himself from Ophelia and hit Fred back. "Not bloody likely."

With the twins occupied in a pillow fight, Ophelia turned on the spot and apparated to the kitchen.

Sirius was there, surrounded by more tinsel than she had seen in her entire life.

"Sirius?" She asked. "What's all this?"

"Decorations!" He said happily. If he had had a fight with Molly Weasley, there was no evidence of it now.

"Right, why does there need to be so much of it?" She asked, ducking her head to avoid collision with some floating holly.

"It's our first Christmas together- well not our first, I remember your first because I got you a toy broomstick and you absolutely hated it, ended up having to give it to Harry – anyway, I wanted to make the house look festive."

Ophelia grinned. "You've achieved that alright. It looks like Rudolph threw up in here."

Sirius threw a bauble at her. "Just for that, you can decorate Buckbeak's room."

Once everyone was up, they spent the rest of the day helping Sirius decorate. Ophelia did notice that he doing his best to keep her away from George, giving him and Fred tasks in the opposite side of the house of her and Sirius. She didn't mind so much, because she'd never seen her father so happy. He was actually singing carols, and Lia found herself on more than one occasion humming along with "God Rest Ye Merry Hippogriffs", a song of Sirius' own invention.

Ophelia didn't notice that Harry hadn't been seen since he came back from St Mungo's until about six O'clock that night, when Hermione arrived. She'd been helping Sirius put Santa hats on the heads of the house elves that decorated the hallways when the doorbell rang. The portrait of her grandmother started screaming, and Lia silenced it with a flick of the wand.

"You really should think about painting over her, you know," Ophelia said to Sirius, as her went to open the front door. "Hermione!" She added, as the bushy haired girl hurried in from the cold.

"I thought you were going home for Christmas?" She asked, helping her with her bag.

"Well, Dumbledore told me what happened with Ron's dad, and I thought you guys might need me more." Hermione explained, taking her hat and scarf off.

"Won't your parents miss you though? You spent all summer here as well…" Ophelia trailed off.

"Oh, its ok, I told them I was staying at Hogwarts to study for the exams. Where is everyone else?"

"I think Ron and Ginny are in Ron and Harry's room. Molly said something about sending up sandwiches." Lia replied. Hermione bustled off to say hi to the others.

"Isn't Harry with them?" Sirius asked Lia once Hermione had left.

"I don't think so. I haven't seen him since we got here the other night." Ophelia replied, looking concerned. "I might go see if he's ok…unless you need my help here?"

"No, it's ok, you go talk to him." Sirius said, getting back to decorating the hallway.


	16. Chapter 16

"Oi, I'm giving you a three second warning before I blast this door open, because I know you're in there!"

Harry scrambled up from next to Buckbeak as he recognised Ophelia's voice. He opened the door to see her leaning casually on the door frame, wand nowhere in sight.

"You weren't going to blast it, were you?" He asked her.

She smirked. "Guess we'll never know. Can I come in?"

He sighed and pulled the door open fully, gesturing for her to come in. Ophelia walked in, and bowed quickly to the hippogriff, who bowed back. She took a look at the straw and dead rat bones that scattered the floor distastefully.

"Lovely…" She muttered. "So are you going to tell me why you've been hiding up here with a Hippogriff instead of enjoying your Christmas holidays?"

Harry sighed and sat back down against the wall. Ophelia reluctantly joined him, cringing at the mess on the floor.

"What happened at the hospital?" She asked him when he remained silent.

"I don't want to talk about it." He muttered.

"Well, that's pretty selfish." She replied, clearing the rat remains away with a swish of her wand.

Harry glared at her. "You don't know anything about it."

"Yeah, you're right; I don't know why you're hiding yourself away. But it still makes you selfish. Do you know how many people in this house are going to start worrying if you don't show your face soon? Everyone here bloody _loves_ you, and you're selfish for taking them for granted."

Harry made a face.

"Oh don't play the victim card! Dya know what I'd do to have people care that much about _me?_ Now get out this room, or I _will_ blast you out." And to make her point, she drew her wand out.

"Now you don't have to tell me what's wrong, but go and tell your best mates. They're in your room, now go on, lickedy spit!"

Harry glared at her and stalked out the room, and Ophelia put her wand in her pocket with satisfaction, and went to go help Sirius again. She skipped down to the second floor where he was putting yet more decorations in the hallway.

"Surely that's enough Christmas cheer for the house now?" She asked him, as he was charming holly wreaths to hang from the ceiling.

He shook his head. "Not nearly enough. I can't get my hands on a tree…it's too close to Christmas. I've sent Remus to Diagon Alley but I think they've all sold out."

Ophelia laughed. "You do realise who you're talking to right?"

He looked at her confused.

"Don't worry about the tree. I know a tree guy."

"You know a tree guy?"

"Well, he's not known as the tree guy…he mostly deals in-" She stopped at the look on Sirius' face. "_Other things_, but at Christmas he has a side business selling trees."

Sirius gave her an odd look. "And how do you know this guy?"

"Business."

"Can I ask what business?"

Ophelia looked at her father sadly. "Oh Sirius, if I told you I'd have to kill you."

She burst out laughing at the look on his face. "I'm sorry but that was priceless. Chill out. I'll get you your tree. I'll send Dung out in the morning, he owes me a favour."

Sirius frowned again. "Why does he owe you a favour?"

Lia pulled out her wand. "Seriously, I'd have to kill you."

She laughed again at the horror struck look on her father's face.

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The next day, Harry finally joined the others for dinner, something that made Sirius even happier, if such a thing could be achieved.

"What did you say to him?" Sirius asked her as he put dessert on the table. "I got Molly to pick up your favourite by the way.

"I didn't. I just threatened him with my wand." She replied, "And I hate treacle tart."

Sirius looked at her oddly. "I could have sworn it was your favourite…"

Lia sighed. "It's _Harry's_ favourite." She said, as Harry leant forward to grab a piece.

"Sorry…" Sirius trailed off, looking uncomfortable.

Ophelia sighed and poured herself some pumpkin juice. At that point the doorbell rang, and she took the opportunity to leave the kitchen by answering it. Silencing Mrs Black with a flick of her wand, she looked through the peep-hole to see Mundungus.

She opened the door.

"Oh Dung, you did it!" She squealed, and pulled him into a hug. "Urgh…" She caught a whiff of beer and tobacco.

"Yeah, I got you your bloody tree. Took a lot 'er effort y'know."

Lia laughed, slipping into her street voice. "What're you on 'bout Dung? Eric's a sweetheart, mindin' y'don't ask too many questions!"

Dung huffed as he pulled in a huge Christmas tree out from the cold. Ophelia opened the door wide and helped him bring it in.

"Yer well he didn't seem ter take a shine ter me." He muttered, closing the door behind him.

"You did tell him it was for me, didn't you? Loves me like a daughter that man."

"Yer that was the problem. Seems his business 'as gon downhill now you're not about anymore."

Ophelia groaned under the weight of the tree. "What are you on about Dung?"

He lifted the tree higher. "Come off it Phee, y'know you were a big help to all us lot. You're the most well-connected, it's getting harder and harder for us to find buyers now y'know."

Ophelia frowned as she opened the kitchen door. She caught the look of delight on Sirius' face as he saw what they were carrying.

"Yeah well I wouldn't change this for the world." She muttered, grinning back at him.

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Christmas morning came around quickly, not that Ophelia was giving it much attention. As far as she was concerned, it was just another day. So when she woke up that morning to find a small pile of presents at the end of her bed, she was extremely surprised. There was something from Sirius, Remus, Tonks, Hagrid and even the Weasleys. She smiled, before delving with the excitement of a five year old.

From Hagrid, she had a purse made of a furry brown material, with fangs concealing the entrance. Lia laughed at the man's madness, she'd have to ask him how she was meant to put things in and out of there. Tonks had given her a collection of spell books she was sure Umbridge would confiscate if she was ever to find them, and Mrs Weasley had knitted her a jumper. Lia smiled fondly as she lifted it out the box, it was grey with a silver "O" embellished on the front. Putting it to the side and resolving to wear it once to please Mrs Weasley, she moved onto the gifts from Sirius and Remus.

She opened Sirius slowly. It was soft and squidgy, and she squealed with delight once she had lifted it from the wrapping. Inside was a beautiful leather jacket, with a small phoenix stitched on the front breast. It looked incredibly expensive, and Ophelia could honestly say it was the nicest piece of clothing she'd ever owned in her life, and she put it on straight away over her pyjamas.

The gift from Remus was in a much smaller packet, with a note attached. It read: _Lia, this belonged to your mother. I thought it was time you had it, so I tracked it down for you. Love Remus._

Ophelia's curiosity got the better of her as she ripped the paper off it immediately. She gasped when she saw what was inside, and her memory came back to her. It was her mother's charm bracelet. When she was a toddler, she used to always try and play with it, but she was never allowed. Tears dripped from Lia's eyes as she remembered each charm on it. The wolf, the dog, both of those made sense now. An eagle, was her mother a Ravenclaw? A wand, and finally a tiny rocking horse.

Lia put the bracelet on as quickly as she did the jacket, and went to go and find Remus. She knew he would be up this early, as he always was, so walked down to the kitchen to find him. She opened the door to find him reading the Prophet, like always, with a cup of coffee in his hand.

"Merry Christmas Lia," He said, looking up from his paper. Ophelia simply walked over to him and hugged him tightly.

"_Thank you._" She whispered. Remus smiled and hugged her back.

"Don't mention it," He said. "Coffee? You're up even earlier than Sirius, that's a surprise for Christmas day."

"Yes please." Ophelia replied, and watched as Remus poured her a cup. "Remus, can I ask you something?"

"Of course."

"How did you know my mother?"

He smiled. "She was at Hogwarts with us. The same year, but in Ravenclaw." He pointed to her bracelet. "That's what the eagle is for."

"I guessed."

"She was one of my closet friends, through school and afterwards. She was the one who named me your Godfather."

Lia looked up, surprised. "I always thought that was because you and Sirius were such good friends."

Remus smiled slightly. "Sirius wanted James as godfather. Those two were inseparable. The Potter's house was like a second home to you when you were a baby."

Lia took a sip of her coffee. "Hagrid told me Sirius used to bring me to Order meetings."

Remus laughed. "Yes, those were funny days. You'd get Moody trying to tell us battle plans, and half the room was cooing over you instead of listening to him. He'd get so livid."

"It seems like my mother wasn't around a lot." Lia commented.

"Yes, well your mother was a healer. We were at war, healers were in demand. Your mother was a good person, she couldn't sit back while people needed her help. But you had a big group of eager babysitters at headquarters. And then of course when Harry was born Lily used to watch you."

Lia raised her eyebrows. "Me and Harry were friends as children?"

"I wouldn't really say friends. You used to bully him something fierce, always stealing his favourite toys."

Lia laughed, and then thought of the question she really wanted to ask Remus.

"Remus?"

Lupin, who had gone back to his paper, looked up again. "Yes?"

"Am I anything like her?" She asked. "My mother, I mean."

Remus reached out and took her hand. "Yes. Though you don't take after her in looks, I see a lot of her in you. Your brains, for instance. Your mother was quick witted and sharp on her feet, just like you."

Ophelia smiled. "Thanks Remus."

At that point Sirius' voice could be heard singing Christmas songs at the top of his voice. Remus gave Lia an exasperated look and went to pour another cup of coffee. Ophelia saw what he was doing and stopped him quickly.

"Don't give him coffee, he'll be bouncing off the walls!" She replied to his questioning gaze.

"MERRY CHRISTMAAAAS!" Sirius yelled in a sing song voice, chucking the door open and throwing his hands up in the air.

"That's quite an entrance Sirius." Remus said, slyly hiding the pot of coffee somewhere Sirius wouldn't see it.

"Merry Christmas," Lia said, walking round to hug her father. "Thanks for the jacket, I love it."

Sirius looked round to make sure Remus couldn't hear and leant down to whisper in her ear. "There's something else to go with it, but I'll give you that when everyone leaves for the hospital."

Ophelia looked up confused.

"Remus doesn't exactly _approve_." He hissed.

At that moment, Molly bustled into the kitchen, in the midst of putting on an apron.

"Oh, I didn't expect anyone to be up! Merry Christmas dears!" She said, not meeting Sirius' eye, and Ophelia remembered their argument about her a few days before. She moved to hug Mrs Weasley.

"Thanks for the Jumper Mrs W. It's lovely."

"Oh, well, you're more than welcome dear!" Molly replied looking flustered, and Ophelia gave her a huge smile as an owl flew through the window carrying a package, which it deposited in front of Molly.

"What's-?" She started, but fell silent as she recognised the package, and burst into tears.

"Mrs Weasley?" Ophelia asked, confused as Remus and Sirius looked round in alarm. "What's wrong?"

"Percy…Jumper…no note…" The older woman sobbed in between words.

Lia, Remus and Sirius looked at each other at a loss of what to do, but just then Fred and George entered the kitchen, wearing their mother's knitted jumpers. George looked lost for a moment as he gazed at Ophelia, but she gestured towards his sobbing mother, and both twins rushed forwards to comfort her.

"Mum, what's wrong?" Fred said, putting his arms round his mother, while George ripped open the offending package.

"What a git." He said, seeming to recognise it.

"What is it?" Fred asked, as Molly continued to sob.

"Perce. He sent back his Christmas jumper. No note or anything. No "How's dad?"" George replied, kicking a chair.

Fred sighed. "Mum, its ok. Percy's nothing more than a humongous pile of rat droppings."

This only made Mrs Weasley wail louder. Remus cleared his throat.

"Boys, Lia, why don't you go and wake the others?" He said.

Lia nodded, wanting to get out of the kitchen faster than a speeding firebolt.

"Behave!" Sirius shouted behind them, as the three shot off through the door.

Lia sighed.

"He's still not a fan of me then?" George asked, pulling her in for a kiss as soon as the door was closed behind them. "Merry Christmas by the way."

Lia grinned into his kiss. "I think I'm winning your mum over though. She knitted me a jumper."

Fred cleared his throat and the two sprang apart.

"You clearly don't know the Weasley tradition." He said, looking at Lia with a stern face. "Jumpers must be worn on Christmas morning."

Lia rolled her eyes and apparated on the spot to her room, picking up the jumper and putting it on, then apparating straight back to the hallway.

"Satisfied?"

The twins nodded, and George grabbed her hand as they apparated up to Harry and Ron's room.

Ron gasped in shock as he pulled the duvet up over his chest; he seemed to have forgotten he was wearing pyjamas.

"Merry Christmas!" Fred shouted, jumping on Harry's bed.

"Don't go downstairs for a bit." George said. "Mums in a right state, Percy sent back his Christmas jumper. No note or anything."

"We tried to comfort her, but it didn't work. So Lupin took over. Better let him cheer her up before breakfast, anyway." Fred added.

"What's that Harry?" Ophelia asked, noticing the painting he was holding in his hands.

"It looks like a gibbon with two black eyes." Fred said, squinting at it.

Ophelia snatched the painting from Harry and examined the back of it. She barked with laughter.

"It's Harry! Say's so right here!" She shouted, pointing at an inscription on the back. "Hey, good likeness though." She added, and ducked when Harry threw a heavy looking book at her. She straightened up and stuck her tongue out. "Missed me!"

"I see you've become part of the extended family." Harry replied, gesturing at her jumper. "Not everyone gets one of those you know."

"What can I say, Mrs Weasley's finally realised how lovely I am!" Ophelia said, picking up the book Harry threw at her and hitting him square on the forehead with it.

After the boys got dressed, which Ophelia was made to wait outside the twins bedroom for despite her logical argument-_"Your identical twins, so I've pretty much seen you topless already Fred.", _they made their way back downstairs, with Lia checking Mrs Weasley had stopped crying before they ventured in. She was stood by the stove, with red eyes, but looking a lot happier than she did before.

Sirius was coming out of the pantry carrying the biggest turkey Ophelia had ever seen, talking to Harry, Ron and Hermione.

"Has anyone seen Kreacher lately?" He was asking. Ophelia realised that the elf hadn't been at all since their stay began.

"I last saw him the night we came back here," Harry said. "You were ordering him out of the kitchen."

Sirius frowned as he set the turkey on the kitchen table. "You know, I think that's the last time I saw him too…he must be hiding upstairs somewhere."

"He couldn't have left, could he?" Ophelia piped up. Something about this worried her. "Maybe he thought you meant _out _out…"

"No, house elves are tied to their family's house. They can't leave without clothes."

"They can if they really want to- Dobby did, he left Malfoy's to give me warnings in second year." Harry argued.

"Yeah and we're not the only family Kreacher's got." Ophelia added. "There are a whole lot of people still alive on that family tree."

Sirius shook his head. "No, Kreacher can't leave this house. He serves this immediate family, and we're the only ones with the Black surname. I'll find him crying over my mother's old bloomers or something. Of course, he might have crawled into the airing cupboard and died, but we mustn't get our hopes up."

Everyone laughed apart from Harry, Lia and Hermione.

Christmas dinner was a very enjoyable affair. Mrs Weasley cooked a tremendous amount of food and Ophelia tried a little bit of everything. She especially enjoyed the crackers, and Ron simply couldn't believe she'd never pulled one before, and before she knew it, she'd shared one with everyone around the table. Mundungus turned up at the end of dinner, and Ophelia managed to slip out of dessert to help him 'borrow' a car to drive everyone to St. Mungo's. The Weasleys, Harry, Hermione, Mad-Eye and Lupin were going to visit Arthur, leaving Sirius and Ophelia alone for the afternoon.

"Do you want to see your other present then?" Sirius asked, grinning.

Ophelia had forgotten. "Sirius, you really didn't have to get me anything else." She said.

Sirius scoffed. "Shh, a father's allowed to spoil his daughter every now and again. Now follow me."

Ophelia stood up and followed Sirius up the stairs.

"Close your eyes." He said, and she obliged. He led her into one of the rooms on the landing, as she tried not to trip over her feet.

"Ok, now open!" He said, grinning.

Ophelia opened her eyes to see a gleaming red motorbike standing in the middle of the room. She opened her mouth to say something but it all came out at once, "ohmerlingyougotmeamotorbiket hatissoawesome!"

Sirius laughed. "It's my old bike. Hagrid's been looking after it for me, but I've been spending the last few months fixing it up for you. I figure if I can't use it you might as well have it."

Ophelia grinned. "You are officially _the_ coolest dad ever."

"Did I mention it flies?"


	17. Chapter 17

As much as she begged and pleaded, Sirius wouldn't let her take the motorbike to Hogwarts with her. Since Christmas day she'd been riding it around London as much as she could, and even managing to fly it once, and she did not want to be parted from it.

"Oh come on Sirius! I could shrink it and keep it in my trunk!"

"And what's Umbridge going to do when she catches sight of you flying around the castle on it?"

"I'll only use it on Hogsmeade weekends then!"

"Yeah right, just like you were only 'popping to the shops' on it yesterday and you came back two hours later?"

"Sirrrrriiiiuuuussss!"

"Don't try the puppy dog eyes; they're not going to work on me!"

Ophelia huffed and stomped into the kitchen, recounting the argument. After Christmas, Sirius' cheerfulness had all but disappeared. It was as if he realised he would be left on his own in the house again. He kept hiding in Buckbeak's room, just as Harry had before Christmas, and he was getting grumpier and grumpier.

Ophelia actually wanted to go back to Hogwarts this time. She had missed the DA meetings, and she especially missed being able to spend some proper time with George. Every time she got "too close" to him Sirius would try to split the two up, and he had taken to checking her room every night to make sure she was in there alone. She barely had chance to say more than a few words at a time to George by the last day of the holiday, and she was getting a little tired of it.

She followed Sirius into the kitchen to see a nasty surprise. Professor Snape was sat at the kitchen table, opposite Harry and Snape.

"Professor Snape!" She blurted out in shock.

"Miss Black." He drawled, glaring at Sirius.

"What are you doing here?" She said, despite herself.

"I wasn't aware that was any of your business. As it happens I am here to see Mr Potter, alone." He gave Ophelia a very meaningful stare. "Don't you have pockets to pick?"

"I might be in your house at school Professor Snape, but you're in my house now. And I want to drink some coffee and sit at my kitchen table, so I'm going to do just that." She quipped.

"Well it is a relief we are at the end of our conversation." Snape replied. "I will see you at six o'clock on Monday evening Potter." And he stood up to leave, pulling his black cloak tighter around him.

"Hang on a moment," Sirius called, sitting up on his chair. Snape turned around and sneered.

"I am in rather a hurry Black. Unlike you, I do not have unlimited leisure time."

"I'll get to the point then," Sirius said, standing up. Ophelia saw Snape's hand tighten around his wand. "If I hear you're giving Harry a hard time, you'll have me to answer to."

Snape's sneer deepened. "How touching. But surely, you have noticed that just as your daughter is sure to spend time in Azkaban, Potter is very much like _his_ father too?"

"Yes, I have," Sirius said with pride.

"Well then, you'll know he's so arrogant that criticism simply bounces off him." Snape answered. Ophelia couldn't help but snigger silently a little. Sirius however bounded round the table and pulled his wand out, squaring up to Snape. Snape pulled his wand out too, both men with hatred burning in their eyes.

"Sirius!" Harry shouted, while Ophelia simply poured her coffee and sat down.

"Like they're going to really hurt each other, Dumbledore would go mental," She said tiredly.

"I've warned you _Snivellus-" _ Ophelia snorted at the name Sirius called Snape. "I don't care if Dumbledore think's you've reformed, I know better-"

"Oh but why don't you tell him? Or are you afraid he might now take very seriously the advice of a man who has been hiding inside his mother's house for six months?" Snape hissed back.

"Tell me, how is Lucius Malfoy, delighted his lapdog's working in Hogwarts is he?" Sirius countered.

"Speaking of dogs, did you know he recognised you last time you risked a jaunt outside? And he figured out who your precious little _Lia_ really is. The question is, do you know who she really is- Kills you a little that she's in Slytherin, doesn't it? Mind you, you're not much of a Gryffindor these days, never leaving your little hidey-hole!" Snape said softly.

Sirius reacted by raising his wand. "ARE YOU CALLING ME A COWARD?" Sirius roared, as Harry jumped over the table to try and stop him cursing Snape.

"Oh let them play Harry, maybe they'll knock each other out and save me a job." Ophelia drawled, angry that Snape had insulted her twice now and Sirius hadn't defended her at all, while one bad word about Harry and Sirius had squared up to Snape.

At that point the kitchen door opened to reveal the whole Weasley family and Hermione, all beaming around Mr Weasley, who was wearing his pyjamas covered by a mac.

"Cured!" He announced. "Completely cured! Merlin's beard, what's going on here?" He added, as he took in the scene, Snape and Sirius glaring at each other, wands outstretched, Harry stood between them trying to separate them, and Ophelia glaring at the trio, with the prophet in hand.

It seemed that the arrival of the Weasleys brought Snape and Sirius to their senses, and they both lowered their wands. Snape put his in his pocket and stalked past the Weasleys out of the kitchen, saying, "Six o'clock Monday evening Potter."

Sirius simply glared at the door where Snape left, his wand hanging limply by his side.

"What's been going on?" Mr Weasley repeated.

"What's been going on is Sirius is so fanatical about Harry as soon as someone insults him he has to try and hex them." Ophelia said dryly. Sirius shot her an angry look, breathing heavily.

"Just a friendly chat between old school friends." He commented, looking away from Lia to Mr Weasley. "So, you're cured? That's great!"

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The next morning the teenagers were set to go back to Hogwarts via the Knight Bus. They ate breakfast hurriedly, and then dressed for the cold January air. Ophelia put on her Weasley jumper and the jacket from Sirius, and bounded downstairs just as Sirius was whispering to Harry and thrusting a package in his hands. Ophelia rolled her eyes as they shared a secretive look, and she turned to hug Mr and Mrs Weasley both before turning to her father.

"Keep out of trouble, you," He said, hugging her.

"Yeah right, like that's going to happen," She replied, hugging him back. "Don't let Kreacher get you down."

Next thing she knew she was being shunted out the door with Ginny and Ron as the door shut behind them. Tonks and Remus were accompanying them on the Knight bus, and it appeared with a BANG almost as immediately as Remus flung out his wand arm.

Stan Shumpike leapt from the bus and started to recite, "Welcome to the-"

"Yes yes, we know!" Tonks said. "Go on, get on you lot."

The bus was busy, but Ophelia managed to get a seat next to Remus at the front of the first level, while Fred, George and Ginny went to the back, and the rest of the group tried their luck up the stairs. The bus blasted off again, swaying around the corner of Grimmauld Place.

"Looking forward to going back?" Remus asked Lia as she hung on to his arm for balance.

"Surprisingly so." She said, glancing at George swiftly.

"You're completely besotted, you know." Remus said knowingly.

Lia frowned. "What are you on about?"

"You and George. Like I believe you're going to listen to your father about staying away from him."

Ophelia snorted. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Remus laughed. "Ophelia, even if you didn't like him, you'd do it just because Sirius told you not to. Even if he did get you a _motorbike_ to sweeten the deal."

Lia chose to ignore his comments about George and focus on the bike. "I hear you're not a fan of a motorbike."

Remus sighed. "What sort of responsible adult gives a sixteen year old a motorbike for Christmas? That thing was nearly the death of Sirius more than once."

Ophelia laughed. "Me and that bike are a match made in heaven. When I join the order the death eaters won't know what's hit them."

Remus looked at her strangely. "When you join the Order?"

Ophelia shrugged. "I turn seventeen in a couple of months. I don't have to stay at Hogwarts after this year. I want to fight."

"Ophelia, without NEWTS your chances of getting a job are severely limited."

Now it was Ophelia's turn to look at Remus strangely. "I don't even care about OWLs Remus. I only ever planned to stay at Hogwarts as long as I had too. As soon as I'm finished with this year I'm joining the Order full time."

"Ophelia, I really think you should think about this. It's dangerous work; you saw what happened to Arthur. What does Sirius think?"

Ophelia gestured to the phoenix emblazoned on her jacket. "He agrees with me."

Remus huffed. "Sometimes Sirius needs to remember how young you are. First a motorbike and now this!"

Ophelia turned to look at Remus. "We're finally getting along Remus, what's your problem?"

"You're only getting along because he's letting you get away with murder."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means, Ophelia, that Sirius isn't always the responsible adult he should be."

Ophelia grinned. "Chin up Remus. That's what I have you for."

"Yes, but I am not your father."

She squeezed his hand. "You're my godfather. That's as good as."

With another BANG, the bus materialised outside the Hogwarts gates.

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The holidays were officially over. Ophelia had only been back at school one day, and her homework count was astronomical. The first night back she found herself sat in the library with Tracey and Daphne Greengrass, who seemed to be spending more and more time with Tracey. Ophelia still couldn't decide if she liked the girl or not.

"I don't know how she can make defence against the dark arts so boring!" Daphne groaned, burying her head in her textbook.

"I know, this is worse than anything Binns has ever given us." Tracey agreed. "You're quiet Lia."

Ophelia looked up from where she was looking over at Harry, Ron and Hermione. Harry looked positively ill, and Ophelia remembered tonight was his meeting with Professor Snape.

"Curious." She thought.

"I'm just struggling with this essay." She said, looking over at her Slytherin companions. Daphne made a sympathetic face.

"Here, I'll take a lot at it," She said, taking Lia's parchment from her. "Pansy always gets me to do her homework for her."

Ophelia made a face. "For someone who's supposed to be one of her friends, you don't seem to like her all that much."

Daphne laughed. "Oh no one likes her Williams. Have you not noticed what a bitch she is? It's just better to be on her better side, than well…not."

Ophelia raised her eyebrow. "Well she's not exactly going to be happy you're hanging round with us all of a sudden."

Daphne sighed loudly. "I am sick of what that bloody girl thinks. She can spread whatever rumours she likes about me, it won't matter. The Greengrasses are more powerful than the Parkinsons anyway, and richer."

Ophelia laughed. "That's all it comes down to with you lot isn't it? Power and money."

"And blood." Tracey added, scribbling with her quill.

"So go on then Greengrass. What's the most powerful family in the pureblood circuit?" Lia asked, leaning back on her chair.

Daphne seemed to ponder for a while. "Well the Malfoy's and the Notts are mostly on par…the Malfoy's have more money, but the Nott's bloodline goes back further…"

"Bet Malfoy loves that." Lia commented.

"I would have said the Blacks…"

Lia's ears pricked up.

"…but after the first war they're all either dead or in prison." Daphne finished.

"You mean as in Sirius Black?" Tracey asked.

"Yeah, the Black family's bloodline could be traced back for centuries. Plus they had more money than most families combined. Malfoy's mum, she was a Black, I think her sisters in Azkaban. And I think Sirius had a brother but he died…" Daphne trailed off. "Anyway, if there was an heir to the Black name they'd probably rule Slytherin house by now."

"I heard Sirius Black had a kid." Tracey commented. "A girl." Ophelia pretended to focus on a sentence in her textbook.

"Yeah but he blew her up with those muggles, didn't he?" Daphne countered. "I think she had the same name as you, Williams."

Ophelia looked up. "What?"

Tracey piped up. "Yeah, I remember reading it in the Prophet when Black escaped. Ophelia Black, that was her name."

"Creepy…" Lia said, her ears burning read. "Anyway, we need to get back to this homework…"

Unfortunately for Lia, the topic of the Black family came up again far sooner than she would have hoped. The next day, she went down to breakfast by herself, as she was the first one up. She was just wondering what cereal to have as she walked through the entrance hall and saw an oddly familiar face.

"What the-" Lia backed up a couple of steps and looked at the newspaper that another student was holding up to his face. There were ten black and white photographs staring back at her. She focused her eyes at the one that caught her attention. Her long dark hair was straggly and unkempt, and her face was skeletal, but there was something about her eyes, and proud smile that Ophelia recognised.

"Give me that!" She all but shouted, grabbing the newspaper from the first year.

Taking it into the great hall and ignoring the shouts of the student she'd hijacked the newspaper on, Ophelia began to read.

_MASS BREAKOUT FROM AZKABAN_

_MINISTRY FEARS BLACK IS 'RALLYING POINT'_

_FOR OLD DEATH EATERS_

"What!" She shouted, causing some students to look round at her. She sat down at the Slytherin table and looked back at the picture of the woman.

_Bellatrix Lestrange, convicted of the torture and permanent incapacitation of Frank and Alice Longbottom._

"Longbottom?" She whispered. "Oh poor Neville…"

She looked back at the image of Bellatrix. _Bellatrix, Bellatrix…where do I know that name?_

Shaking her head slightly she looked at the rest of the article.

…_An escape of this magnitude suggests outside help, and we must remember that Black, as the first person ever to break out of Azkaban would be ideally placed to help others follow in his foot-steps. We think it likely that these individuals, who include Black's cousin, Bellatrix Lestrange-_

Ophelia stopped reading. _That_ was where she recognised the name. Her family tree. But why did she recognise her photo? She'd never seen a picture of Bellatrix before today.

At this point Lia realized that she was getting odd looks from a few students in the Great Hall.

"What?" She snapped at a Ravenclaw who was passing her table, staring at Ophelia. The girl looked terrified and hurried away.

"What is wrong with everyone today?" She thought to herself as she stood up. She caught a glimpse of Bellatrix's photo again as she stood up. But wait, something was different about it. Ophelia whipped her head back round and came face to face with her own reflection from a mirror decorating the hall.

It wasn't a photo of Bellatrix Lestrange. It was her own reflection. That's where she recognised the photo from. She was a near spitting image of a convicted death eater.


	18. Chapter 18

Ophelia ran out of the great hall and straight into the nearest bathroom, before bursting into a stall and throwing up what little was left in her stomach. She collapsed next to the toilet, breathing heavily. Remus had told her she'd taken after Sirius side of the family, but did she have to take after _her?_ She realised with a jolt that this was why Draco had recognised her that day in Diagon Alley. _Hell, I probably look like his mother too._

She heaved again, but nothing came up. Was it this hard for Sirius at Hogwarts, knowing who he was related to? No, she thought. Sirius was in Gryffindor, and wore the badge like a signpost that read "I'm not like them." And Bellatrix hadn't committed all those crimes by that point.

"Ophelia?" A voice called out. "Ophelia are you ok?"

She moaned slightly. _Please, just leave me alone._

The door to the bathroom stall opened and Ophelia looked up to see Neville Longbottom looking down at her.

"What…are you doing?" She croaked her throat dry from vomiting.

He looked concerned. "Ophelia, this is the boy's bathroom. You just ran straight past me into here."

Ophelia groaned at her stupidity and hid her face in her hands. She felt a hand on her back.

"Do you need to go to the Hospital Wing?" Neville said, rubbing her back.

_How can he be so nice to me? After what she did to his parents, how can he even look at me?_ She thought.

"No." She said standing up. "I think, I think I'm just going to get some rest…thanks Neville."

She swept past him and ran the rest of the way to the dorms, ignoring the stares and whispers as she exited the male bathroom.

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"Are you sure you're not coming to Charms?" Tracey asked Ophelia before she left the dorm.

Ophelia merely grunted from under the covers. She just wanted to be alone, but Tracey had come back after breakfast to check on Ophelia.

"Ok well…feel better soon…"

Lia waited till she heard the door shut before emerging. She padded over to the bathroom and pondered her reflection in the mirror. The grey eyes were Sirius', but all she could see in the rest of her image was Bellatrix. She stared at her face for so long it didn't seem like her anymore.

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"Don't you want some lunch Lia? You might feel better if you eat something." Daphne's voice from outside the bathroom door sounded what must have been hours later.

Ophelia simply stayed silent, still pondering her reflection. It was the hair, her hair, she was sure of it now. The long black curls that was identical to Bellatrix's that was the cause of their similarities.

"She's not coming…" She heard Daphne mutter to someone, and their footsteps faded away.

Ophelia picked up her wand and muttered a severing charm. Her thick black locks fell to the bathroom floor. Ophelia's mind cleared with each cut. She was not Bellatrix. She would not be a death eater. She was Ophelia.

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"Phee, what the hell have you done to your hair!" Tracey screamed as she saw her friend.

Lia, looking up from the Old Magic book she'd been reading on her bed, to see Tracey's outraged face. Daphne peered round from behind her and gasped.

"Oh Williams, what have you done?" She breathed.

"I fancied a change." Lia said simply, and went back to her book. Tracey came over and sat next to her.

"Merlin, I thought you were ill with a stomach bug, I didn't realise you'd gone insane!"

"Your beautiful curls…" Daphne trailed off, reaching out to touch what was left of Lia's hair.

"Are gone." Lia said.

"Ophelia are you ok?" Tracey asked, concerned about her friends behaviour. "Is this about what Malfoy's been saying?"

Ophelia snapped her head up, "What do you mean, what Malfoy's been saying?"

Tracey and Daphne shared an uncomfortable look.

"What has he been saying?!" She repeated sternly.

"He's been spreading this rumour that you're, well…"

"That you're Sirius Black's long lost daughter and you're in cahoots with him." Daphne blurted out.

Cogs ticked in Ophelia's head. Of course, pretty much everyone who had a brain knew the Malfoy's were involved in the dark arts, and were probably death eaters. With the Azkaban breakout, Draco wanted to get the heat off of him. He revealed the truth about Ophelia in hopes that the school would turn against her instead of the other Slytherins.

_Well played._ She thought. _But I'm not going down without a fight._

"Phee, where are you going?" Tracey asked as Ophelia jumped out of bed and stormed towards the door.

"You're still in your pyjamas!" Daphne uttered, only to be replied by a slammed door.

Ophelia stormed through the common room with one thought on her mind: Find Draco Malfoy, and hurt him.

"What's that on your head Ophelia? You look you've got a bird's nest on your head!" Pansy shrieked as she saw her. Ophelia responded by hitting her with a full body bind before running out the common room. It was 5 O'clock; Draco would be on his way towards the Great Hall for dinner. She stamped through the halls of Hogwarts, looking out for the silver-blond hair.

"What the-"

"That's _her."_

She ignored the stares and whispers as she picked up speed, squeezing her wand so hard it could be indented in her skin. Just before the staircase to the entrance hall, she saw him, flanked as always by Crabbe and Goyle.

"MALFOY!" She roared, raising her wand. He turned around, looking slightly afraid before resuming his haughty expression.

"Oh well well. If it isn't the _Black_ sheep of the family." He drawled, emphasizing the word Black.

"I'm going to kill you Malfoy!" She yelled, pointing her wand at him.

"Go ahead, you can follow in the rest of the family footsteps and take a trip to Azkaban!" He shouted.

They'd attracted an audience by now. Ophelia could hear the muttering.

"That's her, that's Sirius Black's daughter."

"I heard she's working with the death eaters to help them take over Hogwarts."

"She already has the dark mark!"

All Ophelia could hear was the whispers and Draco's arrogant laughter. She closed her eyes but she could still see his horrid face behind her eyelids. She screwed her face up in anger and shouted the first spell that came to her head.

"Ventus Bombarda!"

Several things seemed to happen at once. Ophelia opened her eyes, Malfoy's expression turned from laughter to terror. The surrounding students screamed. And the wall to Ophelia's left and right seemed to explode in slow motion in front of her eyes.

She moved her arms protectively to her face as she was blown backwards. The other students seemed to be forced backwards, away from the explosion. Her head hit the ground and her wand rolled out from her hand. She crawled forward to retrieve it, hearing the groans from the other students surrounding her.

She moved slowly towards her wand, wincing in pain. It was just in front of her, she just had to reach out and grab it. She stretched out her hand, and her fingers fumbled around – nothing. She opened her eyes to see a pink clad foot standing on her wand. She looked upwards slowly and saw a figure that made her heart sink. It was Umbridge.

"My office." She said, beaming like she'd won the lottery. "Now."

Ophelia pulled herself up, and Umbridge immediately clamped down on her arm.

"Oww!" Lia complained, but Umbridge ignored her, half dragging her through the castle and into her office.

"Sit!" The woman said icily, with the same look of triumph in her eyes. Ophelia sat down, slowly.

"I've had my concerns about you, Miss Williams. A sixteen year old only just joining the education system? And then, your uncouth outburst in my class at the start of the year. I kept my eye on you after that. And then I heard some interesting stories about what you'd _really_ been up to before you came to Hogwarts…"

Ophelia glared at Umbridge, who was sat at her desk, still grinning. She looked more like a toad than ever.

"Well, let's just say after that I decided to do a little digging. Only, I couldn't find any record of _Ophelia Williams…_ That sparked my curiosity. So I had the Ministry look you up. But Ophelia Williams doesn't exist, does she? But there was a girl, Sarah Williams, who grew up to marry Sirius Black. And _they_ had a daughter called Ophelia…"

Ophelia's stare burned with ferocity now.

"I kept quiet, for a while. See, I guessed you were in contact with Black, and what use is just the daughter, when she could lead me to an even bigger prize? But now… tsk tsk. We do have a temper don't we? You've just caused a whole lot of damage to a historical castle, not to mention attacking other students. And the things you got up to before you came here, well, let's just say there's a cell in Azkaban that's just been _waiting_ for someone like you."

At that point, the door slammed open and Ophelia looked over. She had never been happier to see Albus Dumbledore.

"Dumbledore." Umbridge began. "I'm glad you're here for this. I was just about to alert the ministry. We have a criminal in our midst."

"Need I remind you, _Dolores_, that the ministry does not have the power to discipline my students?" He replied, curtly.

"I don't know if you are aware _Albus_ that Miss _Black's_ activity outside of Hogwarts has not exactly been on the good side of the law."

Dumbledore didn't look at Ophelia as he answered. "Nethertheless, she is under my jurisdiction now. And may I remind you that Ophelia is still under-age and therefore cannot be tried as an adult. Meaning the most severe punishment for her actions today would be expulsion."

Ophelia's heart was racing. Expel her? It was better than Azkaban but still…she couldn't leave Hogwarts.

Umbridge's eyes narrowed. "The Minister will be hearing about this." She said.

"Naturally." Dumbledore answered. "Perhaps you might go and owl him now, I will not need your assistance in disciplining Ophelia here."

Umbridge glared at Dumbledore before storming out of the office. Ophelia let out a breath she didn't realise she'd been holding in. She looked towards Dumbledore gratefully, but his stormy expression hadn't changed when Umbridge left the room.

"Professor Dumbledore!" She said breathlessly, trying to stand up, but wincing and leaning back down. "She- she knows, she's looked into my past, and she knows who I really am!" She looked up at Dumbledore with concern.

Dumbledore, always brilliant. He would find a way to fix this. He always did. They didn't call him the world's greatest wizard for nothing. She eagerly waited his solution as he looked at her solemnly.

"Ophelia. You have just extensively damaged a portion of this castle, as well as putting four students in the hospital wing. Not seriously injured," He interjected at the look on Lia's face. "But you have left me no choice. You are expelled from Hogwarts."

Ophelia's heart sank. "Professor, no, you can't!"

Dumbledore's expression remained angry. "Yes, Ophelia, I can. I cannot ignore this kind of action. And-" He looked at Ophelia significantly. "It would mean you are away from Umbridge's scrutiny. I believe now the best place for you is not Hogwarts."

"I've, I've really got to leave?" She said, looking at Dumbledore pleadingly.

"We need to get you away from Hogwarts, and quickly. The Prophet is going to have a field day with this, the daughter of Sirius Black, attacking students and destroying the castle. It's best for you to leave now, before Umbridge can take further action."

"I've got to leave _now?!" _

I have already sent a message to Sirius informing him of what has happened. You need to leave before Umbridge returns with the Ministry. So yes, you need to leave now. Your belongings will follow you shortly."

Ophelia couldn't believe what was happening. Dumbledore was creating a portkey from a crumpled piece of parchment. She had to leave Hogwarts. In September this was her only wish, but now. _George._ She thought with a heart ache. She wouldn't get to say bye to him, to explain it had all been an accident. And the DA, she would miss Harry's lesson on patronus charms. She looked up at Dumbledore.

"Sir?"

"Yes, Miss Black?"

"It…it was an accident." She finished lamely.

Dumbledore did not respond. "Your portkey is ready. You must hurry."

She looked around the office sadly. Such bad luck, that her last glimpse of Hogwarts would be this hideous office. She sighed, and touched the portkey, feeling the lurch in her belly, and the ground disapeared beneath her feet, before rematerializing as the kitchen floor of Grimmauld Place.

She picked herself up off the ground and saw Remus standing before her. He managed to catch her as she fainted, before her head hit the ground.


	19. Chapter 19

Ophelia absent mindedly ran her fingers through her cropped hair, as she tried to focus on the conversation that was happening around the corner.

"…and so he's sent me to do 'is dirty work for 'im." The grubby looking man muttered to his friend.

"Yeah well I'm not surprised he doesn't want to show his face round here, after that Potter practically _outed_ them all in the Quibbler."

Lia was on an unofficial mission. After that day she arrived back at Grimmauld Place she'd been unconscious for days. Something to do with the spell being too strong for her to handle. Remus had hardly left her side and Sirius…well, she and Sirius were going through another stage of not speaking. As were her and George. And Harry. And Hermionie. And pretty much everyone, apart from Dumbledore and Remus.

When she awoke, she found a stack of newspapers with her face on the front page. "Death Eater infiltrates Hogwarts", "Black attacks Hogwarts Students" and "Ophelia Black, wanted for questioning" read the headlines. Umbridge had informed Fudge of the situation, and the Minister had issued a warrant for her arrest.

Lucky for Ophelia she knew how to disguise herself. And good job too, because Dumbledore had a lot of eavesdropping for her to do.

She flicked her hands through the blonde hair once more as she watched the two men walk away. She sighed, as she walked out of Knockturn Alley and into Diagon Alley, pilfering a copy of a magazine from a stand just before disapparating away.

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"Any news?" Remus asked as Lia walked into the kitchen of Grimmauld Place.

"Not much. Nott's got one of his lackeys doing his business in Knockturn for him. Nothing we didn't already know." She put the magazine down on the table. "Looks like Harry's been busy though!"

Harry's face looked up at them from the front page of the Quibbler. Ophelia smiled as she sat down at the table.

"Umbridge is going to flip when she finds out about this." She grinned.

Lupin picked up the magazine and frowned. "I hope he's not drawing too much attention to himself."

Ophelia snorted. "He's only the flipping _Boy Who Lived_. I think he's already got too much attention on himself."

At that moment Sirius walked into the Kitchen, looking as miserable as ever.

"What's this?" He asked, nodding at the Quibbler.

"Harry's done an interview with Rita Skeeter." Lia said, looking at her father. "Don't you want to hear my field report?"

Sirius ignored her as he took the magazine from Remus and flipped through it.

"This is incredible." He said, flicking to the pages about Harry.

"Sirius?" Ophelia said louder. "I said don't you want to hear my field report?"

"He's gonna get in a lot of trouble for this mind you," Sirius continued, muttering to Remus. Remus just rolled his eyes at his friend and took a sip of his tea.

"Sirius!" Ophelia all but shouted, but her father continued to pursue the magazine.

Frustrated, Lia whipped out her wand and sent a blasting hex at the magazine. It exploded into a thousand tiny pieces, floating down and looking like snow on top of Sirius. He glared at her.

"This is bloody ridiculous now. Will you just believe me when I say I didn't know what that spell would do?" She spat, glaring back at him.

"You blew up a section of the castle and injured innocent people Lia. I don't care if you knew what the spell would do or not."

Ophelia slammed her hand down on the table in anger. "Yeah like you've never made mistakes!"

Sirius stood up. "Not ones that get me expelled and wanted by the ministry!"

"You're such a hypocrite, did you know that!"

"Just get out of my sight!" Sirius yelled back, as Ophelia stormed out of the room.

"Sirius…" Remus started wearily, but stopped at the look on his friends face.

So it had gone on for months now, with father and daughter on a warpath with each other. They had explosive arguments almost twice a day, had nearly resolved everything three times before blowing up at each other again, and had broken two doors by slamming them too hard. It was becoming unbearable for Remus to live with.

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"Harrys been caught!" Ophelia shouted at the top of her voice as she barrelled through the front door. "Just overheard Fudge's second assistant saying he was on his way over to arrest him!"

She'd come back from some undercover work at the Ministry, and after hearing the news, made her way straight back to headquarters. She ran into the kitchen where Remus and Sirius were waiting for her.

"What?!" Remus said, standing up, knocking over a bottle of butterbeer.

Ophelia leant on the table and took in a few mouthfuls of air. "Something to do with the DA being found out. Fudge is on his way to try and get rid of Harry. Took Kingsley with him though, so some good might come of that." She sat down. "I don't know how Dumbledore's gonna get Harry out of this one, from the sounds of it one of the members squealed."

Sirius was frowning intently. "What else did you hear?"

Ophelia shot him a dirty look. "That was it, wanted to get back and tell you straight away."

Remus was thinking. "We need to warn Dumbledore."

"Already done, I used the Floo network in the Ministry to send him a message." Ophelia replied.

Sirius looked up. "Why didn't you just use a patronus?"

Ophelia ignored him. "If anything happens, we'll find out. We just have to wait."

The three of them sat in silence, each worrying on their own. Ophelia was sat trying to figure out which member of the DA had told Umbridge. Her bets were on Smith.

Just as she was thinking of some particularly nasty hexes she'd like to try on the Hufflepuff, a large flash appeared in the kitchen, and Dumbledore himself materialised, accompanied by Fawkes. The trio stood up in surprise.

"Dumbledore!" Sirius cried, "What's going on?"

"It seems my reign as headmaster of Hogwarts has come to an end, for a while at least." Dumbledore said, "There is lots to be done, I will tell you what has unfolded if one of you would be so nice as to make me a cup of tea."

Ophelia stood in a stunned silence before coming to her senses. "Tea, yep!" She chirped and bustled over to the stove.

Dumbledore took a seat at the table.

"What do you mean, you're not headmaster anymore?" Remus asked him.

"I have taken the blame from Harry for his defence club. I must say it was a remarkably fortunate twist that they named the club 'Dumbledore's Army' – thank you Ophelia – and also that Mr Shaklebolt was there."

Ophelia sat down after passing Dumbledore his drink. "So what exactly happened?"

Dumbledore sighed. "It seems Miss Edgecome told Professor Umbridge about the club. She went there this evening to try and catch them out. It seems one of the house elves managed to warn Harry, and he got most of the students out of there in time, before being apprehended himself.

In order to ensure Harry remained in school I had to take the blame for setting up the club. Kingsley was clever enough to modify Miss Edgecome's memory so she could not testify against us. Alas, it means I am now, a wanted man."

"Join the club." Ophelia muttered.

"So now who's in charge of Hogwarts?" Remus asked.

"Oh, Umbridge, no doubt." Dumbledore replied, as Ophelia swore loudly.

Dumbledore turned to Ophelia. "Ophelia, do you think you can carry on undercover at the Ministry?"

"No problem." She replied. "What do you need me to do this time?"

"Stay on Fudge's people. We need to be one step ahead of him."

Ophelia nodded.

"Will you stay here?" Sirius asked the now ex-headmaster.

"Thank you for the offer, but I have somewhere safe I can go. I have something I need to investigate. Thank you for the tea, Ophelia." Dumbledore stood up. "Goodbye."

And with a flash, he grabbed onto Fawkes once more and disappeared.

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	20. Chapter 20

Ophelia fidgeted. The ministry robes she was wearing were so itchy! She made a mental note to charm them as soon as she got back to Grimmauld Place.

"Everything alright there?" Percy Weasley asked her from behind his desk

"Yes, yes, fine thank you," Ophelia replied, pushing the glasses she was wearing up her face. She dumped a load of parchment on his desk. "Here's everything he needs to sign today."

Percy nodded. "I'll see that the Minster gets it," He handed her a few scrolls. "Make sure these get owled out today."

Ophelia nodded. She noticed a photograph poking out from a stack of papers on Percy's desk. She picked it up. "Family photo?" She asked. She could see all the Weasley's smiling and waving up at her. She looked at the photo-George, and her stomach sank a little.

Percy looked surprised. "Yes. Not that it's any of your business." He said, snapping it back out of her hands. "Those need to go out as soon as possible," He repeated, nodding at the scrolls in her hand.

Ophelia held back an eye roll. "Yes, _Sir."_

She turned on her heel and left the red-head's office. She passed the tiny desk that had become her home at the Ministry and made for the elevators.

Since Dumbledore's flee from Hogwarts, Umbridge had indeed become the new Head of Hogwarts, and with this blow, the Order needed more spies close to Fudge. This is where Ophelia came in. She'd disguised her appearance, and with the help of some old friends, took up one of her old aliases, and wangled her way into a job in his office. It had been easy (under another disguise of course) to convince Percy he should hire his own assistant, now that the Minister had an increased workload searching Dumbledore. The only problem was the role was so _boring_.

She made her way into an empty elevator and pressed the button that would take her to the owlery. She opened up the three scrolls one by one, two were useless, whilst the third was interesting. A letter to Umbridge, granting her the ability to question certain students of Hogwarts under Vertiserum. Notably, one Harry Potter.

She got out at the owlery, and resealed the three scrolls with her wand. She handed them to the wizard on duty.

"When by?" The bored wizard asked her.

"Those two by today, _that one," _she gestured to the letter destined for Hogwarts. "Whenever you get a chance, it's really not important."

The young wizard moved the scrolls into various piles. Ophelia pulled a scrap of parchment out her pocket and wrote a quickly coded letter to Harry, but addressed it to Ron.

"Hey, can I ask a favour?" She asked him. He looked up at the parchment in her hands

"Need a personal letter sent out? You know I'm not allowed to do that Cordelia."

She smiled innocently. "I understand, it's just…It's for Percy's little brother – it's his birthday today and _I said_ I'd do it yesterday only there was all those new decrees to file, and he'll spit feathers if it doesn't get there by today- for me?" She looked up at him with puppy dog eyes.

The wizard gave her a smile. "Of course."

She grinned. "You're the best. Catch you later!" She walked out the room and sighed. _Men._

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It was 6pm before Percy finally let her go home, which was a feat in itself. She couldn't floo directly to headquarters, so she had to use the visitors exit and from there find a deserted place to apparate, which was no easy task in the middle of muggle London. By the time she finally got in the door, it was half past, and she was starving.

She walked into the kitchen to see Remus going over some blueprints. He quickly hid them away before Lia could see.

"Really Remus? I'm practically inducted into the Order now, I don't know why you guys are still keeping secrets from me." She said, lifting her bag over her head and taking her coat off.

"Dumbledore's orders." He said, tapping his nose. "Anything of interest today?"

Ophelia sat down and stretched out her legs. "Not much. Umbridge has permission to use truth potion on the kids. Managed to delay the message and send a warning to Harry though."

Remus looked at her sharply. "You know that's the sort of action that needs discussing before you do it."

Ophelia glared at him. "And what was I supposed to do, Floo the Order of the Phoenix headquarters from Fudge's offices? Besides it was very cryptic, and I told the mail guy it was an urgent message to one Ronald Weasley from his lovely big brother Percy."

Remus looked surprised. "That was actually quite clever."

She got up and punched him in the arm playfully. "Don't sound so surprised. Are there any leftovers from dinner?"

"Sirius left you a plate."

Lia raised her eyebrows in mock shock. "Oh, so he does care about me after all! Where is Daddy dearest?"

Remus sighed. "In with Buckbeak."

Ophelia made a face as she went towards the fridge. "I can't stand that creature."

Remus laughed. "You only don't like him because you have to bow to him."

"Yeah well Slytherins bow to no-one." She replied, sitting down with her food and tucking in. "I'm so hungry. That Weasley's a slave driver. He only gave me fifteen minutes for lunch today."

"Welcome to the world of the working witch."

"Sirius?"

The voice had come from the fireplace in the kitchen, and both Ophelia and Remus jumped in alarm.

"Harry!" Ophelia exclaimed, as it was indeed, Harry Potter's head in the fireplace. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Is everything alright?" Remus asked, getting up and moving closer to the flames.

"Yeah," Harry replied. "I just, I just fancied a chat with Sirius."

Ophelia and Remus looked to each other in perplexion before Remus replied, "I'll call him."

As Remus hurried out of the kitchen, Lia moved to crouch on the floor next to the fire.

"What on earth are you doing here?" She hissed. "Are you in trouble?"

Harry shook his head. "I just need to talk to Sirius."

Ophelia frowned a little. "How are you doing this? Isn't Umbridge tracking the Floo?"

"I'm using her fireplace."

Ophelia grinned. "You better not get caught. She'd expel you for sure."

"It's ok, I've got the twins distracting her."

Lia's smile faltered a little at the mention of the twins. "How's Hogwarts?" she said, changing the subject.

"Like a police state." He replied. At that point Sirius strode into the room with Remus following.

"What is it?" He said in alarm, sitting down next to Ophelia and nearly knocking her out of the way without noticing. Remus caught her before she tumbled over. "Are you alright, do you need help?"

"No," Harry said, "It's…I just wanted to talk about my Dad."

Remus and Sirius looked at each other in surprise as Lia stood and went to sit at the kitchen table. Harry immediately began telling them about something he had seen in Snape's pensieve. Ophelia looked at Harry in surprise as he described how he had snuck into the potion master's childhood memories. He described one memory where his dad and Sirius had bullied Snape. Ophelia looked at her father with distaste. Somehow it did not surprise her that he was the school bully.

When Harry had finished, it was Remus who spoke first. "Harry, remember, your father was only fifteen-"

"I'm fifteen!" Harry interrupted.

Ophelia watched as Sirius and Remus reminisced with Harry about their school days. A part of her was dying to ask Harry if her mother had been in the memory he'd seen. She had yet another pang of jealousy as she watched the two men laugh about their childhood with Harry.

"How did Snape react when he found out you'd seen this?" Remus said suddenly.

"He said he'd never teach me Occlumency again." Lia's ears pricked up at this. Harry was learning Occlumency? "Like that's a big disappoint-"

"WHAT!" Sirius yelled, standing up.

"Are you serious Harry? There's nothing more important than those lessons right now!"

"Yeah-" The boy in the fire started before Sirius shouted again.

"I'm coming up there to have a word with Snape!" and he actually made towards the fire, before Ophelia quickly stood up and grabbed his arm back.

"If anyone's going to tell Snape it'll be me!" Remus said, pulling Sirius back down again. "Harry, you must go to Snape and tell him that he is to keep giving you lessons – if Dumbledore hears -"

"I'll….I'll try to say something to him." Harry replied in alarm. He fell silent suddenly. "Is that Kreacher on the stairs?"

"No" Lia said. "It must be someone your end. Go!"

And Harry's head disappeared as quickly as it appeared.

The kitchen was silent for a while before Sirius broke it.

"That slimeball." He said. "Can't believe – What an idiot"

"Sirius calm down. You're not the only one who can't believe he's treated Harry this way."

Lia scoffed, and Sirius looked round in anger at her.

"Got some sarcastic little quip to chime in with?" He said, still shaking with anger.

Lia glared at him. "No, actually, I was going to say Harry's not exactly innocent in all of this."

"Snape's got it in for Harry." Sirius replied, sitting down on a chair.

"He looked through Snape's private memories. Which I'm guessing were in a pensieve specifically so Harry wouldn't see them."

"That's no excuse for what he did."

Ophelia raised his eyebrows. "What Harry did was the equivalent of reading a teacher's diary. And it sounds like Snape was trying to do him a favour by hiding them, to stop him seeing what complete and utter prats you lot were when you were kids."

"Ophelia," Remus warned.

"No, I'm going to finish this because _he_ needs to hear it. Harry isn't as perfect as you think he is, and by the sounds of it, neither was his Dad. But yet you still put a bully and a sneak up on a pedestal, and barely talk to your own daughter."

Sirius stood up. He didn't shout, but his voice was trembling with anger.

"Get out."

"Sirius, don't." Remus said.

"Kicking me out now?" Ophelia antagonised.

"Yes." Sirius replied. "Get out of my house. I want to see you here again."

Ophelia stared blankly at her father before leaving the room. She accioed her belongings from her bedroom and grabbed a bag from the hallway to stuff them in. She grabbed her motorcycle jacket from the coat rack and stormed out the door.

"Lia, wait!" Remus ran out after her. She ignored him and strode towards the alleyway she kept her bike.

"Ophelia!"

She swung her body over the seat and started it up, riding as far away from Grimmauld Place as she could get.


End file.
